The Raven Rival
by Riverlander1790
Summary: Cara Gernet had expected a normal, quiet life after Hogwarts, or as normal as an Auror's life would be. Instead she is dragged into a time-travelling adventure - her destiny - with the boy she calls a rival, all to save three dead heroes. Her adventure will reshape her family, her life and her heart forever. TeddyxOC
1. Chapter 1

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

**Raven Rival**

_Prologue_

_In the midst of peace the Dark Lord shall return _

_From the past his loyal followers will go_

_For peace to return three rescuers are needed_

_A mother, a father and most faithful a friend_

_Taken before their time_

_Twice back two rivals must go to save them;_

_A son of the three and his raven rival_

_To pay the sacred exchange of time_

Chapter 1

_London, England, 2019..._

Cara stared at Professor Longbottom in confusion. "Professor, I don't understand."

He smiled down at her, tall as most were around Cara. "I'm not your professor anymore Miss Gernet, but Professor McGonagall would like to see you."

"I understand that," Cara said, "What I don't understand is why?"

Cara had _never_ been to see the Headmistress. She was what some called a 'goody-two-shoes', but she found it a lot easier by not getting into trouble in Hogwarts. Cara was the person that blended in. Not popular but not unpopular. Not beautiful but not ugly. Not a genius but not an idiot.

She was an average Jane.

No one usually took much notice of her, and it was something that Cara preferred, especially after some _embarrassing_ events in her Hogwarts career. She didn't bother anyone and no one bothered her. Some could call Cara unsocial – most people did – but it stops being annoying when you aren't around people enough to hear the label.

_Anyway_, Cara thought, _if I had never been asked to see the Headmistress when I was still in school, why would I four years later as an Auror?_

"I'm sure you'll find out why soon enough." Professor Longbottom said. Cara was quite good at reading people, and immediately saw through the fake smile on Neville's face. Just because she didn't hang out with a lot of people, didn't mean she was oblivious to them. "So, are you coming? We wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

"Right... right..." Cara said, putting down the papers in her hand and leaving a note for her unit chief to know where I was. Joining Professor Longbottom by the fireplace, he threw in a handful of Floo powder and we both stepped in.

"McGonagall's Office."

After a quick – but as usual unpleasant – trip by the Floo network, Cara was thrown from the fireplace and landed in a heap on the floor of Professor McGonagall's office. She heard some sniggering and looked up to see a face she had been hoping she wouldn't. "What are you laughing at Lupin?"

"Still not quite got your landings I see Gernet."

She stood up and dusted herself off and plucking some stray debris from her raven hair, before glaring at the boy beside her. His hair was still its trademark turquoise, and a smirk sat on his face as he looked down at her. "Have you? Or have you finally grown out of your clumsiness."

He started to glare at Cara too, his hair growing redder with his anger or embarrassment. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a sharp voice, a slight Scottish twist heard. "Will you two pipe down? Goodness, it's as if neither of you has grown up from your days in Hogwarts."

Cara bit her lip, embarrassed, and turned to face the stern-faced McGonagall with Teddy. "Sorry Professor."

"Hmm." McGonagall said, looking down at us through her glasses. _How is it I'm standing while she's sitting, and I still feel smaller than her?_ "We will begin shortly once a few more people arrive."

Cara nodded to her, turning to look around the office. On the walls were many portraits of sleeping past Heads of Hogwarts, and many other small knick-knacks covered almost every surface of the room. It wasn't the type of office she had pictured McGonagall having, messier, _perhaps a previous headmaster's decor had been left?_ But it had a charm about it that Cara found soothing. There were a few touches of McGonagall's use of the room too, the most obvious being a tartan patterned tin of most likely biscuits sat on her desk.

The fireplace flared up, and Cara turned to see several people step out one after another. Her eyes widened in surprise though at who she was seeing. First came the world famous Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and Cara's _boss_, and his wife the former Holyhead Harpie Quidditch player Ginny. Then came his right hand man Ron Weasley, recognisable by his flaming red hair, and his wife Hermione, a big name in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Basically, a stream of _very famous_ people came out of the fireplace kept coming, until Cara was surprised so many could still _fit_ in one office.

"Teddy!" Ginny said with a smile, pulling him into what looked like a very tight hug, "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while. Been very busy with Auror work?"

Teddy smiled at her, nodding his head. "Sorry auntie Ginny, I'll try and come over soon." He said, making Ginny smile up at him, before Harry pulled him into another hug. _I might not be fond of Lupin, but the sight of him with his family still made me smile_. Only a small smile though.

"Is everybody here? Yes? Very well, let's begin then." McGonagall said, standing up behind her desk and staring down on the _crowd_ before her. "I have called you all here because I have received some very disturbing news." She held the gazes of everyone in the room before continuing. "We have news that a group of Voldemort supporters still on the run have banded together, and they have come up with a plot to bring back the Dark Lord."

Outcries broke out, but Cara could only stand in shock at what she had heard. _Voldemort back? No! We cannot let that happen._

"Quiet!" McGonagall cried, commanding the attention of the whole room instantly. "We have checked our sources, and deemed it a very real and possible threat."

"Minerva, what exactly are this group planning on doing?" a deep voice cried out. Cara turned and saw it was the Minister himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt, talking.

McGonagall sighed, "They plan on returning to the past and bringing Voldemort to the present."

"Is that even possible?"

"We believe so. If this happens, we could be looking at another war." Chaos ensued as everyone panicked. Those who had lived through the first and second wars against Voldemort and the Deatheaters had horror and sadness on their faces, afraid of living through such terrible times again. And those who had yet to experience such a war, the 'next generation', could feel that same terror at the potential end to our beautiful time of peace. Cara turned and saw that even Teddy's face, usually care-free, was now deathly serious. "Quiet, please!"

Hermione, the voice of reason, stepped forward. "Professor, what are we going to do?"

McGonagall nodded her head and began to speak. "First, as of today, the Order of the Phoenix is reinstated." _The Order of the Phoenix?_ Cara had heard rumours of its activities during both wars as a secret group fighting against the Voldemort and the Deatheaters under the 'command' of the famous Dumbledore. "And secondly... Professor Dumbledore had, before his passing, prepared some things for us. He left me a transcript of a prophecy, apparently made by Professor Trelawney before the defeat of Voldemort."

"What does the prophecy say?" McGonagall adjusted her square-shaped glasses higher on her nose, before picking up a sheet of parchment from the desk.

"_In the midst of peace the Dark Lord shall return _

_From the past his loyal followers will go_

_For peace to return three rescuers are needed_

_A mother, a father and most faithful a friend_

_Taken before their time_

_Twice back two rivals must go to save them;_

_A son of the three and his raven rival_

_To pay the sacred exchange of time."_

Silence was met by the prophecy, because honestly what can you say? It sounded really bad. Hermione once again took the initiative, "Professor, does this mean-"

"Yes Mrs. Weasley, apparently we are also going to be sending people back in time, two people. And only to _save_ three others, _not_ to bring them forward apparently. I think the three mentioned to be saved are Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, and Sirius Black; '_A mother, a father and most faithful a friend_'. The question now remains as to who will be going back." McGonagall said again. "I believe Mr. Lupin is without doubt one of the two mentioned that will be going back, '_A son of the three'_."

"Professor, are you sure it isn't me?" I heard Harry ask. "No offence Teddy, but Professor are you sure it isn't _my _parents that are the ones to be saved? I have already defeated Voldemort once-"

"Do you have – what we think the prophecy speaks of – a rival in Ravenclaw Mr. Potter?" she asked. Her eyebrows were raised and lips pursed in a look I had come to associate when she was being challenged by a student. Apparently that look still occurred even after you left Hogwarts. At Harry's sheepish look she nodded her head. "So I thought. I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but if we were to save your parents, Voldemort would have never been defeated in the first place, because you would not have had the necessary power to do so."

"So... who's going to go with me then?" Teddy asked. McGonagall remained silent, just moving her gaze from him to Cara. Teddy followed her gaze, and Cara soon found herself staring straight into his incredulous grey eyes. "_Her?_"

Cara frowned at him, "Excuse me?"

"You're excused." He said, turning back to McGonagall. "There has to be someone more capable."

_No way did he just say that! _"I am an Auror too, _Lupin_, I am perfectly capable of going on any mission _you_ are."

He turned back to face Cara, stepping towards her until we were almost nose to nose (the height difference made it difficult for them to _actually_ be nose to nose). "I thought I excused you. Only members of the Order of the Phoenix should be present."

She glared at him, "First, you are not my superior so you cannot just tell me to _leave_. And second, you aren't a member of the Order any more than I am. What makes you think _you_ can stay here too?"

"My parents were members, so by proxy I am a member because of them."

"Same here."

Teddy looked genuinely surprised. "Your parents were members?"

"Yes!"

"As interesting as this is to watch, I believe we are facing much larger problems." McGonagall said. We turned back to face her, and at least _I_ was looking apologetic. "However much you may not like it Mr. Lupin, I believe that Miss Gernet is in fact the raven i.e. Ravenclaw rival spoken of in the prophecy. I suggest you two learn to get along while we figure out a way to send you back in time with no Time-Turner."

* * *

It was a chilly night, especially beside the water of the Black Lake. But it was calming Cara being here. Everyone else at the meeting this afternoon had left, but she had headed for the Black Lake. This had been her favourite place when she was in Hogwarts. Not many people came out here as it was a little bit of a walk to get out here, and there were more 'fun' things to do with friends closer to the castle. Sure you got a little cold and your butt got a little wet on the dewy grass, but Cara preferred the solitude, so the walk was quite worthwhile to her, and if she _did_ get lonely there was always the Giant Squid to talk to.

Besides, Cara had come out here to think, not to socialise.

She was now a new member of the Order of the Phoenix. She had been selected for a mission where she would go back in time to save three _really_ important people. And if Cara failed my mission, it could be the end of the good free Wizarding World, _no pressure there_. Oh! And to top it all off, she'd be going on this mission with a boy she couldn't stand, the one, the only, _Teddy R Lupin_. _How on earth am I going to handle this?_ The only plus side to this Cara could see, was that because her boss aka Harry Potter knew exactly why she was going to be on an extended 'sick leave', and Cara wouldn't get into too much trouble if she was off longer than expected.

"Cara?"

She looked behind her and smiled when she spotted who it was walking towards her. It wasn't hard to miss him. "Hey Hagrid, how've you been?"

He dropped to sit beside her with a huff, before smiling down at her. "I'm alright. Sorry I haven't replied to your owls recently, but I've been a little busy; with the Order and stuff."

"That's fine, I understand." Cara remembered that hours spent out by the Lake weren't _always _spent by herself. Hagrid was her friend, having stumbled across her one day in second year when she was sat here all upset. They had been enjoying tea and enduring rock cakes together ever since.

"So... big mission for you, hey?"

Cara nodded her head, "I suppose, but I can do it. I won't stop until I succeed."

Hagrid chuckled, "Sometimes I wonder why you weren't put into Gryffindor."

"Maybe because I was 'destined' to be the '_raven rival'_." she said, sarcasm dripping from my every word. "At least there'll be a functioning brain between the two of us."

"Teddy's not that bad. I never understood why you didn't like each other..." Hagrid said. "Anyway, I came here to give you something. It's here somewhere." He started patting the millions of pockets on his coat, a frown on his face when he was still unsuccessful in his search. Eventually he seemed to remember something and reached around his neck, removing a necklace of sorts and handing it to Cara.

It was a simple strip of leather, from which a small silver ring hung, a roughly cut dark gemstone embedded into it. It was quite plain in design, but the gem was extraordinary, appearing completely black, but reflecting the colours of the rainbow when Cara moved it in the moonlight. "It's beautiful Hagrid."

"It's one of the few things my Dad gave me, bless his soul."

Cara stared in shock at Hagrid. "Hagrid, I can't take this, it's too important to you!"

"I know, that's the point, see?" he said. "Whatever time you are in – when you go on your mission – if you need help, you come find me or Dumbledore and show that to us. We'll believe you, and we'll help you whatever you need. See? Useful, innit? And then, when you come back – safe, sound and _alive _mind you – you can give it back to me."

Cara put the necklace on, before leaning over and wrapping her arms as far as they would go around Hagrid, hugging him as tight as she could. "I'll take good care of it for you."

"Take good care of yourself, and Teddy too."

"I will, I promise... _even_ for Lupin."

"Good. Now how about warming up with a nice cup o' tea? We could even add a splash of Brandy."

"That sounds great Hagrid." _I'm going to need a strong drink after today's eventful afternoon._


	2. Chapter 2

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 2

It was a gloomy looking place 12 Grimmauld Place. The day after the meeting and Cara's unofficial initiation into the Order, I had been brought to the Headquarters for my 'mission-briefing'. While other members of the Order were using any and all resources to find out _how_ exactly Teddy and Cara were going to be sent back in time, they were being told the general plan. They were planning to go to two windows of time, before the expected deaths of those they were rescuing. _Better early than late, right?_ What they actually did to save them was still a little... iffy. Until then, Teddy and Cara were being taught in as much detail as possible what _exactly_ happened at the time.

It was like History in school again, being taught by different professors about the lives of people who were already dead. It was a lot more interesting though, albeit sad with their deaths. Currently though, they were on a break for lunch, Mrs. Weasley cooking up a storm for everyone in the kitchen. Cara had decided to go exploring. There were plenty of rooms to explore. Since it was only the first day here, she limited herself to the ground floor. There was a ballroom of sorts, the kitchen, the dining room, a living room and several studies. But what was most interesting was one room, which – other than having a rug _just_ outside the door which Cara just _had_ to trip on – was completely enshrouded in tapestries. And displayed on the tapestries was the family tree of the infamous House of Black.

She passed many unfamiliar names from centuries ago, but slowed down when she started to recognise the names. _Bellatrix Black. Narcissa Black. Sirius Black. Andromeda Black_-

"So you found my grandma." Cara spun round to find Teddy, a sombre look on his face as he looked around the room also. His hair was a deep blue now she noticed, rather than its usual florescent turquoise. "I'm not fond of tapestries myself..."

"Your family-"

"They're not on here... Why would they be? They were 'Muggle-lovers'." He said, a sarcastic smirk on his face.

_Idiot, we had just gone through this. How could I have forgotten already?_ "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I know; its fine. I wouldn't have been too pleased if they _had_ appeared here untouched." Cara bit my lip again, embarrassed. _Why do I always make a fool of myself in front of him?_ Whether it was what she did or said, it just gave him more fuel to tease her with. Teddy leant against a wall, sliding down until he was sat on the bare floor. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Now Cara was really curious. "What did you want to talk about?"

Teddy looked up at her, smiling as he patted the space next to him on the floor. Cautiously taking a seat beside him, Cara waited for an answer. "Well I was thinking, since we're probably going to have to work together a lot, how about a truce? You'll know that I'll have your back, and I'll know you have mine. I figure a team works better when we aren't constantly fighting." Holding out a hand to her, Teddy smiled, his hair returning to its happy turquoise. "What do you say, truce?"

Taking his hand in her own, Cara shook on the deal. "Okay, but I can't promise we won't fight ever."

"Fair enough." Teddy said with a small laugh, releasing her hand from his larger one. A serious expression then fell across his face again, and he ran a hand through his hair, much in the same way Cara had seen Harry do a lot during her stay here. "So, this is really happening."

"What; that we're being civil to one another? Or that the future of the Wizarding World may rest on our shoulders?"

That got a small chuckle out of him at least. "Both."

"Hmm, me too I guess. We better not mess up." Teddy nodded his head, a small smile still in place. For some reason, although Cara had literally only _just _agreed to a truce with Teddy, it made her feel more at ease when he was being his happy, normal self, rather than sad and serious. It gave a touch of normalcy to the whole situation. The two of them sat in a fairly comfortable silence for a while longer, before the distant sounds of Mrs. Weasley calling them for lunch were heard, and they both got to our feet. Cara led them from the room, careful _not_ to trip on the rug again. "Watch out for the-"

"Woah!" Teddy – _predictably_ – tripped over the rug just as Cara had started to speak, falling forward into her and dragging Cara down with him. They landed in a heap on the ground, groaning in pain. But when Cara lifted her head and looked over to Teddy, rubbing his head from the pain and with the funniest expression on his face, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. Cara must have looked just as funny; because soon Teddy's deeper laughter was heard joining her own. When they eventually calmed down, Teddy lifted his head again to ask, "What were you going to say?"

"Look out for the rug you idiot!" Cara said, shoving him off her.

"Oops?" they started laughing again, until a shadow fell over them. Cara looked up and saw Teddy waving stupidly at whoever was behind her. "Hi auntie Ginny."

"Mum's calling for lunch. I suggest that if you want any of it, you hurry up; before Ron gets to it." Ginny said, before turning around and heading back to the kitchens.

Cara wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she had seen Ginny cast a small glare back at her just before leaving. But before she could think too heavily on the matter, her stomach made it known then just how hungry she actually was, and she gratefully accepted the hand Teddy held out for her. With one swift tug from him, Cara was on her feet and dusting herself off again. "Would Mr. Weasley really eat everything?"

"If you're talking about Uncle Ron, then I'd be surprised if he hasn't already eaten all there is to eat." Cara chuckled before hurrying after Teddy, trying to keep up with his long strides. At the magically enlarged dining table were sat many Order members, and Cara managed to nab a seat near the end, mildly surprised when Teddy chose to sit on her other side. He noticed her surprise it seemed. "Do you mind me sitting here?"

"No, it's fine. Still getting used to this being friends thing. Sorry."

He just smiled at her. "Don't worry, I expect it'll take a while for all of us to get used to us being friends now." Cara smiled back, enjoying the peaceful moment between the two of them, before yet again, the moment was interrupted.

"So," Ginny said from her seat directly in front of Cara. "You went to Hogwarts with Teddy?"

Harry frowned slightly at his wife beside him, "Ginny-"

"What Harry? I'm allowed to ask a few questions, aren't I?"

She had directed the last question to Cara, and Cara wasn't naive enough to think that this question was as literal as it appeared to be. The table wasn't silent, but a certain blanket of quietness had fallen over Cara's end. Everyone wanted to know more about this 'stranger' Cara, but no one – except Ginny it seemed – had the courage to outright interrogate her. "Its fine Mr. Potter, I don't mind questions."

"See?" Ginny said with a smug smile to her husband, before returning her gaze to Cara, her usually soft brown eyes now sharp and inquisitive, staring straight into Cara's blue eyes. "So, you two went to school together?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I hadn't heard Teddy mention you at home when he wrote or visited us."

Cara contemplated telling Ginny the truth; that she and Teddy were in fact major rivals in Hogwarts, academically and socially. Teddy also seemed to have the natural affinity to _seriously_ piss off Cara, which set off an argument, which led to many prank wars in Hogwarts and they were often unwilling detention buddies as a result. Cara didn't doubt that she was the only one with the goody-two-shoes cover, and she wouldn't blow Teddy's cover if he didn't blow hers. "I don't think we have much to say about each other. We aren't exactly close."

A thin eyebrow lifted as Ginny watched Cara, no longer interested in her lunch it seemed. "Hmm, I see... and you're an Auror too?"

"Yes ma'am; fully qualified nineteen months now."

"What made you decide to become and Auror?"

"My Mum; she was an Auror."

"And your Dad?"

"He was an Unspeakable, in the Department of Mysteries."

"Really..." Harry cleared his throat again, but Ginny ignored him, leaning forward now on the table. "Didn't you say before that they were Order members too? What were their names, maybe one of us know them."

"I don't think you'd have heard of them-"

"Were they in the Battle of Hogwarts?"

"No."

"Ginny-" Hermione this time tried to get Ginny to stop, but it seemed impossible. Ginny was on a roll.

"Why weren't they there? Were they at home, safe and sound, taking care of you?"

Cara had long since abandoned her food, hunger forgotten too. She looked directly at Ginny as she answered the question. "My parents weren't at the Battle of Hogwarts ma'am, because they were dead, Mrs. Potter." Cara pushed her chair away from the table and stood up, avoiding what she suspected were a lot of pitiful looks from the now silent table. "If you'll excuse me."

"Wait-" Teddy said as Cara started to leave the room.

"I have some things I need to sort out at home, before this whole mission, whenever it is."

Teddy started to stand from the table too. "I'll come with you."

"It's fine-"

"It'll be safer; in case there do happen to be any attacks from Voldemort supporters."

Looking up at Teddy, Cara saw a face she had seen many times when she had had arguments with Teddy. It was his stubborn face. Few things would make him back down now once he had that expression on his face. Too tired to argue but too proud to give in, Cara shook her head, before smiling slightly to the somewhat flustered Mrs. Weasley. "I don't need a bodyguard Lupin, and thanks for the lunch Mrs. Weasley."

"Er, my pleasure dear."

* * *

_Five days later..._

* * *

As she had nothing else to do while she waited, Cara had returned to her work duties in the Ministry. Unfortunately there wasn't much to do right now, mostly paperwork, which she hated. _At least it fills my time_. Most unfortunately for her she felt though, was the fact that she was now stuck with the colleagues in her group that didn't do much work, but did enjoy a lot of gossiping. This was what apparently happened when there weren't rampaging Deatheaters loose around the country. Not that Cara wanted that either. It would probably be equally annoying for her anyway.

"Hey Gernet."

Shocked out of her momentary daydream, Cara looked up from her desk and found the smirking face of Teddy looking down at her as he casually leant against the doorframe to the office. Cara just restrained herself from groaning in annoyance. Not only was he a famous man, but he was undeniably handsome, and _single_. And in his quest to attract Cara's attention, he had also garnered the attention of every _other_ woman in the office, and the envy of every man too. _There was going to be hell to pay when he leaves; this had better be worth it_.

"Lupin."

"So cold? I thought we were friends now."

"What do you want?"

He languidly walked toward Cara, evidently aware and enjoying the attention from the female workers. "Harry sent me, he wants to see you."

Instantly alert, Cara nodded to Teddy, and began putting her papers in order. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Receiving a nod, Cara turned and stuffed her things into a drawer, before turning back to grab her bag, only to see Teddy still standing in front of her, smirk never having left his face. She looked up at him, "What are you still doing here?"

"I thought I'd be a gentleman and escort the young lady up to the big boss man."

Cara scoffed, before waving him off with a hand. "Go, I'm a big girl, I'm sure I'll manage to find Mr. Potter by myself."

He shrugged, "Suit yourself then."

Cara let out a relieved sigh when he left, standing to grab her coat only to see about a dozen faces now peering at her with curiosity and jealousy painted plainly on their faces. "Erm, can I help you?"

The silence was broken by the nasally voice belonging to one Líadan McLaggen. "_What_ was _Teddy _talking to _you_ about?"

Cara wasn't really surprised; it wasn't exactly a secret that McLaggen harboured an apparently one-sided love for Teddy since her first laying eyes on him age eleven. No wonder she would question Cara talking to him, having known and witnessed the 'epic' battles between the two in Hogwarts. "It's nothing McLaggen."

"It's not '_nothing_' Gernet. What did he want with you?"

"He didn't want anything with me."

"What did he say to you? Did he mention me?"

"I really have to be going."

"Gernet-"

"Now if you'll be excusing me I have to be somewhere." Cara said, dodging around McLaggen and heading out of the office and to the elevator. She spotted Teddy holding the elevator for her though, and glared at him as she joined him. "You know, it's going to be really hard to keep to this truce with you pissing me off all the time like this." He just chuckled at her as the elevator started to move. Soon enough they found themselves on the correct floor of the Ministry and walking towards the black lacquer door of the Head Auror aka Harry Potter.

After knocking on the door and receiving no response – and no help from a smirking Teddy – Cara went ahead and opened the door.

"Mr. Potter?-" she had barely caught a glimpse of an empty office before Teddy had wrapped an arm around her waist and she felt the familiar tugging at her navel from a Portkey. "Lupin!"

"Surprise."

"You are _so_ dead."


	3. Chapter 3

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 3

They landed in the living room of a familiar old, decrepit house; also know to be the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Teddy managed to land on his feet, before dropping Cara – who he had until then still had a hold of – and let her land in a heap on the floor beside him. "Thanks a heap Lupin."

"No problem."

"Children..."

Cara and Teddy turned to glare at Ron, making him back up and _subtly_ hide behind his wife. Also in the room were Harry, Ginny, Professor McGonagall and Andromeda Tonks. _Something big's happening_. "I assume there was a reason I was _kidnapped_?" Cara said.

"Ah Gernet, you know if you assume, you make an ass out of-"

"I dare you to see what happens to you Lupin if you finish that sentence." Cara said, not even sparing a glance at the smirking boy beside her. Instead she turned to look at Harry and Professor McGonagall for answers. "Mr. Potter? Professor?"

Professor McGonagall spoke, "Ms Gernet, Mr. Lupin, we believe we have found a way to send you back."

Cara blinked, "That was fast. I thought it would take a lot longer."

"Yes well, due to the circumstances, we all worked to our hardest and fastest."

Teddy smiled, "So, when do we leave."

"As soon as possible, Mr. Lupin." McGonagall said with a stern look on her face, "I hope you are taking this as seriously as you should be." Cara looked with amusement as Teddy's face took on a rarely seen sheepish look, and he smiled nervously at McGonagall. _Once a student, always a student to that teacher, no matter how many years went by_. "Do you have everything packed already?"

Cara nodded, pulling out three miniaturised suitcases from her pocket. "I've been ready ever since you first told me."

McGonagall actually gave her a tight smile, "Organised as always Ms Gernet, well done. And you Mr. Lupin?"

"I have my moments too Professor." He said, pulling out a miniature trunk from his pocket also, before smirking again at Cara. "How is it, even with tiny luggage, you girls _still_ have to pack more than us guys?" Cara shoved him with her shoulder, but couldn't help smiling as well.

"Well then, all that's left are the goodbyes."

Teddy smiled, knowing that the most important people he needed to say goodbye to were already in this very room, except for the children in Hogwarts still. He stepped forward to Ron and Hermione, receiving tight hugs from them both and a kiss on the forehead from a teary Hermione. Next Teddy stepped forward to Harry and Ginny; his almost surrogate parents. Harry wrapped him in a tight hug, whispering words of encouragement only meant for Teddy's ears. Then Ginny almost hugged the life out of Teddy, blubbering her goodbyes into his shoulder while simultaneously scolding him to be careful. Then at last, Teddy knelt before his seated grandmother, the one who had raised him. Andromeda raised a hand to pat Teddy on the cheek fondly, tears in her eyes, but a proud smile on her face. "You be careful Teddy, are you listening to me? You're all I've got, and I don't want to lose you."

Teddy leant forward and kissed his grandmother on both cheeks, smiling gently to her. "I'll be careful Grammy."

"I have complete faith in you Teddy. Your parents helped defeat Voldemort; it's in your blood to do the same."

He smiled brighter now at the mention of his parents. "You know I'll give it my best at least."

"Mm-hmm..." Andromeda said, patting him on the head as she had often done when he was a little boy, before a more serious look took over her face. "You be nice to that girl, you hear me Teddy?"

"Grammy-" Teddy groaned, flushing slightly when he heard Cara's badly muffled sniggering behind him.

"You two are going to depend on each other. I want to know you aren't going to kill each other in the process."

"... Yes Grammy, I'll be nice. I promise."

"Good boy." Teddy smiled at her again, before moving to stand with McGonagall. All eyes then turned to Cara.

"You haven't brought your friends and family, Ms Gernet?" McGonagall asked.

Cara smiled, "There isn't really anyone."

"Your aunt?"

Cara flinched, looking down to her feet. "No... I don't think it's necessary to tell her."

"Come on Gernet, surely she'll notice you disappearing for an unknown length of time." Teddy said.

Cara shook her head. "Auntie Lissa hasn't been the same since Mum and Dad died."

"What do you mean?" At Hermione's persistent curiosity, Cara decided to explain herself more.

"I mean that over the years her mind hasn't been working like it used to, like there's a block. She finds things more difficult to understand, even the simple things like talking, and she's become forgetful about everything in her life. Auntie Lissa hasn't remembered me for at least two years. I'm just the nice lady that comes and does magic tricks for her every couple of days. I doubt she'd really notice if I disappeared for a while. So... shall we get started then?"

Stunned silence was met by her, before McGonagall shook herself and cleared her throat before speaking. "Mrs. Weasley, if you will please hand me the bracelets?" Hermione nodded her head and dug a hand into her purse quickly before dropping two simple silver bracelets into McGonagall's hand. McGonagall looked at Cara and Teddy, the atmosphere in the room serious now. "The Minister found that Unspeakables working in the Time Chamber managed to develop a spell similar to the Portus spell, except that it transports an object through time."

"Wait, did you say it transports _objects_?" Cara interrupted. "Please tell me they've successfully tested the spell on _living_ things too."

"They've tested it on live animals."

"Tested it _successfully_?"

"..."

Cara felt a shiver of fear run through her, imagining the possibilities of what could happen to them if the spell didn't work out properly. "No way! You _have _to be kidding-"

"Ms Gernet I fully believe this will work. Much better than a Time-Turner, as you can come forward in time back to the present when you finish your work."

"But it hasn't been tested properly-"

"Hey, Gernet." Teddy turned the slightly panicking Cara gently to face him, hands resting on her shoulders in a reassuring manner. "Everything will be alright. It's already been prophesised that this will work, we _will_ go back in time,we _will_ save my parents and Sirius, and we _will_ defeat Voldemort."

"But the spell-"

"I know you're the Ravenclaw, all logical and reasonable. But sometimes you just have to take a chance and risk everything like a Gryffindor. Don't we Aurors do that every day already?" Cara looked up at Teddy, nodding her head a little. "If it all works out, when we finish it will be like only a second has passed by, and none of us will ever have to worry about _Voldemort _again. Sound good?" Cara nodded. "Then are you still in?" Cara took another moment before nodding again, determination clear in her eyes now.

"Yeah, let's get the little bugger."

"Ahem."

"Sorry Professor."

Teddy grinned, turning back to McGonagall with a grin on his face, one arm slung around Cara's shoulders. "Spell us up Professor, we're ready."

McGonagall shook her head at him, but strapped the bracelets on both of their left wrists. "The silver in the bracelets will amplify the power of the spell. To use the spell you need to say _Tempus Temporis Portus _and tap your bracelet. As you say this, picture the time in your head clearly, and you should... _will_... find yourself in this room but at that time. Good luck, and don't do anything stupid; Voldemort's followers may target you on your mission." McGonagall handed a copy of the prophecy to Teddy, which he quickly stuffed into his coat pocket. "Take this with you, you may need it, and try _not_ to reveal too much about the future unless absolutely necessary."

Teddy and Cara nodded as they took out their wands and muttered the incantation, their bracelets beginning to glow and vibrate with power instantly. Cara quickly grabbed Teddy's hand in hers, silencing him with a glare as he smirked down at her, _again_. "Shut up, I'm only holding your hand so we don't end up separated in time."

"I knew you liked me really."

"Lupin!"

McGonagall shook her head at the pair, _arguing to the very end._ She and the others in the room watched as Teddy and Cara seemed to shimmer in the air for a second, before vanishing completely. _Dear Merlin I hope they don't kill each other. Dumbledore had better have known what he was doing._

* * *

"-Something he didn't have last time."

"Like a weapon?"

"Sirius-"

_CRASH!_

At the sudden sound, everyone had their wands out and ready as they cautiously exited the kitchen and headed towards where the sound had come from. Voices could be heard from the living room, and silently Sirius and Remus approached first, Mad-Eye and Tonks right behind them, as Mrs. Weasley attempted to keep the children further behind. With a nod between the two Marauders, Remus quickly opened the door and the Order members streamed in, wands at the ready to attack anyone who posed a threat. It seemed they hadn't been noticed though, because the turquoise haired boy and the raven haired girl, lying in a tangle on the ground, were still arguing to their astonishment.

"Get the hell off me you lump!"

"Hey! I resent that; you aren't as light as a feather yourself and you're half on top of me too!"

"This is _your_ fault."

"How is it my fault Gernet?"

"It just _is _Lupin."

"Lupin?" the arguing pair seemed to notice suddenly their audience, and scrambled to get up. Remus frowned at them, pointing his wand directly at them as he spoke, "Why did you call him 'Lupin'?"

Teddy just stared at the man, tall with sandy brown hair and grey eyes. He kept looking at Remus, noticing he had the same facial features as this man, _his father._ Teddy's eyes then turned to the pink-haired woman behind Remus, and he couldn't help the smile that blossomed over his face as he finally stared straight into the faces of the two people in the world he already loved. Cara – seeing as Teddy wasn't doing anything productive other than stare at the strangers – got up, holding her hands up in a placating manner as a frown formed on her face also. "Wait, this can't be right. What month is it?"

"... August."

Shock spread across Cara's face, before utter fury took over again as she turned on her heel to face Teddy. "_You_ sent us back too far!"

_That _seemed to snap Teddy out of his daze, him jumping to his feet suddenly. "Why me? Why do you _always_ blame me?"

"Because it's always usually your fault!" she whacked him in the arm, "What were you thinking you idiot? We have a specific mission to complete; this isn't some pleasure trip you know."

"I know that, I just, my mind must have wondered last second."

"Fine, we'll just have to do the spell again, seeing as we know it works at least." Cara stopped though when she felt a wand being held to her throat. Looking up she saw the weathered and scowling face of Mad-Eye, scrutinizing the two strangers with great suspicion.

"Neither of you will be doing any magic until _we_ get some answers around here. Now hand over your wands. Black, contact Dumbledore, get him here." Cara glared at Teddy as they obediently handed their wands over to the Order members, before being personally escorted back to the kitchen. Shoved into two chairs, they found ropes suddenly tying them to their seats as they sat, surrounded by Order members, and all with their wands aimed directly at them. Cara again found herself with Mad-eye's wand pointed straight between her eyes. "How did you get in here, and what is your purpose in being here also?" Cara kept her mouth shut, more out of stubbornness at this rude old man than anything else. Mad-eye frowned, pushing her cheek with his wand, "Don't make me hurt you girl."

Gritting her teeth at him, Cara spat out her reply. "You wouldn't believe us anyway if we told you. But if you let me see Dumbledore I could explain better-"

"Like we're stupid enough to let you see Dumbledore. You've probably come to kill the man!" Ron scoffed from behind the Order members, before being hushed by his mother.

"We haven't come to kill him." Teddy said.

Mad-eye gave a short laugh, "You would say that though, wouldn't you?"

Cara growled at Mad-eye, her eyes glaring straight at his. "Lupin, don't tell them _anything_ until Dumbledore gets here."

"Who are you to boss me around?"

"I'm older than you, hence boss here!"

"So? I'm higher ranked than you are."

Cara growled at the smug look on Teddy's face. "Auror-wise, not _Order_-wise, and that was only because of 1 _measly_ point in the exam. I have no bloody idea how you passed Stealth with _grace_ like yours." Teddy opened his mouth, face and hair red with anger and looking ready to bite Cara's head off, but the fireplace in the kitchen suddenly flared up, and a tall old wizard, with a long white beard and half-moon glasses perched on the end of his nose, stepped forward. Cara and Teddy stared in awe at undoubtedly one of the most powerful wizard of all time.

"D-Dumbledore."


	4. Chapter 4

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 4

He smiled down at Teddy and Cara, a twinkle in his eyes as he waved a hand and made the ropes binding Cara and Teddy disappear. "I am Dumbledore, but I feel at a disadvantage, as I do not know who you are, or what it is you are doing here?"

_Dear Merlin, _Cara thought, _it's Dumbledore!_

Teddy was still awe-struck so Cara – _again_ – shook herself of her wonder and dug around in Teddy's pockets, retrieving the prophecy, handing it to Dumbledore. "I don't know whether or not you'll believe me sir, but you sort of sent us on a mission for the Order."

Dumbledore frowned, "I'm sure I would have remembered such a thing."

"Well, you haven't actually sent us _yet_." Teddy said clearing his throat.

"Lupin-"

"We're from the future."

"Lupin!" Unsurprisingly several of the Order members in the room burst out laughing, muttering things like 'they're crazy' or 'how stupid do they think we are?' It was really starting to annoy Cara. Frowning, Cara tugged around her neck and pulled out the necklace Hagrid had given her. _Merlin I hope this works_, she thought, holding the necklace out for Dumbledore to see. "Hagrid gave me this to borrow, to _prove _we aren't lying to you sir." Dumbledore took the necklace from her hand, smiling a little when he seemed to recognise it with a nod.

"I believe you." _That sure silenced the room_. "But you have yet to answer my questions; who are you and what is your purpose in being here?"

"This is Caroline Gernet, and I'm Teddy Lupin." Teddy said, ignoring the shocked looks on the faces around him at the familiar surname. "We came back to save some people, but we sort of-"

"We're a bit further back then we intended to come. It was an experimental spell anyway, so I'm just glad to still be in one piece really."

Dumbledore nodded again, before speaking. "Can we help you?"

Cara shook her head, "It's not necessary, we'll just-"

"Can we stay here?"

Cara blinked for a second, before grabbing Teddy by the arm and smiling to Dumbledore. "Do you think we could have a few minutes in private sir?" at a nod from the wizard, Cara dragged Teddy out into the hall with her and cast a silencing spell on the door just in time for her to explode. "_What the hell Lupin?_ We have to do the spell again, _properly_ this time. Mission, remember?"

"I just thought... maybe I could..." he sighed and Cara watched his hair turn a million different colours before settling on red as he stared almost angrily down at her. "Why can't we stay? It wouldn't make a difference really would it Gernet when _we_ complete the mission, because we'd still be going to that time frame. Why can't we just stay here, now, and wait? Or are you still too _goody-two-shoes_ to even _think_ of being a little spontaneous?"

Cara growled at Teddy. "I am not thick _Lupin_, so tell me the real reason or so help me god I will hex you so bad you'll _wish_ you were in fifth year again."

She smirked when she saw the momentary flicker of fear in Teddy's eyes, before he returned to his 'usual' turquoise hair. "I just thought that, maybe we were meant to come here, _now_. Maybe we're being given an opportunity to help more with the Order, protecting Harry, or guarding the you-know-what, or-"

"Or maybe you want to spend more time with your parents?" at the guilty look that clouded Teddy's eyes, Cara knew she had hit the nail right on the head. "If you had wanted that, why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

"Erm, hello? Not born yet, hence they don't know they're parents yet. They'd probably freak out."

Cara frowned at him, "You aren't going to tell them?"

"I don't know yet."

"... I know we don't like each other much, or get along, but if you want to talk-"

"Oh don't go all mushy on me Gernet, I don't know how to handle a sentimental you." He said, so Cara punched him not too softly on the arm. "So... are we staying?" Teddy whooped when he saw Cara's nod, turning to open the door to the kitchen again only to have several people sprawl at their feet, apparently having been eaves-dropping. Teddy burst out laughing as Cara smirked at the group, consisting mainly it seemed of redheads and one distinctly pink head. Cara reached down and helped Tonks to her feet, getting a grin as thanks. A grin Cara noticed to be very similar to one she had seen Teddy give fairly often.

"Thanks, Caroline right?"

"I prefer Cara actually, awful name _Caroline_." Cara said.

Tonks nodded her head to her. "I understand. Are you any future relation to Sam Gernet?"

Cara blinked, nodding her head. "He's my father, how did you know?"

Tonks grinned, "Lucky guess, you don't look anything like him."

"I know, not exactly a tall blonde, am I?" Cara said with a laugh. "I look more like my Mum."

"Who did Sam end up with? I left a couple of years before him."

Cara smiled nervously. "Erm, you probably don't remember her."

"No, tell me, I want to know. I didn't really hang out with your Dad, but he seemed nice."

"... Lena, my Mum's name was Lena. She was in his year in-"

"Gryffindor!" Tonks smiled again. "I remember her! Only 'cos she was a Potter though; it surprised me hearing that name at the sorting."

Cara tried to ignore the now _very _curious stares at her, turning to face Dumbledore again. "Yes, well, sir, was there anything we could help you or the Order with while we're here?"

Dumbledore smiled down at her. "How good of a duellist are the both of you?" he received two large grins in response.

* * *

"Argh, how much longer? I'm bloody freezing!"

"Quiet Lupin, you aren't the only one who's cold here." Cara said to Teddy beside her. Together they patrolled Hogwarts' ground boundaries, and although it should have been a nice warm late August night, the cloudless sky had resulted in all the heat of the day leaving, and a freezing cold night to guard the empty school.

It seemed to only grow colder as the night went on, even now when the sun was only just peeking over the top of the distant mountains. Impatiently blowing hot air into his cupped hands, Teddy frowned in thought. "Why are we here anyway? Nobody's here to protect."

"Maybe there's something important we're protecting instead."

Teddy smirked, "You don't believe that... I bet they're just testing us."

"Testing our skills or whether they can trust us?"

"Both." Cara sighed, nodding her head. She had thought the same thing, but really, they had nothing else to do. "Well at least it should only be a few more minutes before Moody and Vance take over. Then we can warm up by the fire back in headquarters." He had barely finished speaking when the sound of someone – or two people – Apparating was heard, and Cara and Teddy both turned to see Moody and Emmeline Vance stood just outside the boundaries. Teddy whooped in joy, jumping over the invisible boundary and immediately Apparating away, Cara following him. Both found themselves in only a matter of seconds perched on the doorstep of 12 Grimmauld Place, opening the door and hurrying inside to the warmth.

Molly Weasley, still up despite the late hour, had mugs of steaming hot chocolate waiting for them, as they moved to sit by the fireplace in the living room, before wishing them a goodnight as she went to bed. Most people were in bed like her, most likely asleep, as the house was very quiet. Cara sighed in contentment as she relaxed deeper into the sofa opposite Teddy's armchair, the hot chocolate in her stomach warming her up from the inside. She didn't doubt that the hot chocolate offered by Molly had been a tasty cover for a suspicious Order member to check that Teddy and Cara weren't double agents and staying 'out' unusually late after their guard shift. She wasn't going to bring it up though, the hot chocolate was one of the few things Cara looked forward to after shifts. With her eyes closed and her head laid back, Cara was _just_ starting to really relax when she felt a body slump next to hers. Opening one eye, she was surprised at who she saw.

"Sirius?"

He grinned down at her, "The one and only."

"Padfoot, you had better not be harassing the poor girl." Remus said from the doorway, instantly grabbing Teddy's attention. Despite being here over a week, Teddy had yet to decide what to tell his parents, or even work up the courage to properly talk to them. _Some Gryffindor_, Cara thought to herself. Teddy couldn't stop the small smile on his face though when his father sat in the chair next to him. Remus glanced at him curiously, but decided that there were many coincidences in life, and Lupin _could _be a more common surname than he thought. Surely no one would wish to be with _him_ at least. Still, it felt nice to be bonded to this young man, even if only through name.

"I'm not harassing anyone Moony." Sirius said with a wave of his hand, before turning to look back at Cara. "I just wanted to talk, you don't mind right?" having been asked a lot of questions already from the young Weasley brood, Cara just nodded with a sigh. She hadn't really spoken to Sirius much, and she got a good vibe from him. "I was interested to know more about your Mum. A Potter, huh?"

"So it seems."

"Any relation to my old buddy James Potter?"

"Cousins."

Sirius frowned at her. "He never mentioned her to me."

"She would only have been a baby when you were in Hogwarts. I don't even know if they met."

"Hmm... think they would have liked each other?" Cara simply shrugged; she didn't honestly know either James or her mother well enough to guess how they would have reacted to each other. She and Sirius sat chatting for hours, and whenever Cara slid her gaze over quickly to Teddy, she smiled when she saw him finally relaxing and having a normal conversation with Remus. "So how long have you liked mini-Lupin?" Cara jumped in her seat, looking wide-eyed at Sirius. He chuckled, "That long, hey?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Deny it all you want love," Sirius said, "But I spent _years_ watching my best mate high on love with his Lily. I know the look on your face, no matter how hard you try to hide it."

"Love? I don't _like_ Teddy R Lupin, so I most certainly do not _love_ him. Hah! Love Lupin, that's a joke, that is."

"Really?" Sirius said, smirking at Cara. They engaged in a stare-down, a long one, in which Sirius – to Cara's dismay – won.

Cara glared at him, "... _No one _is to hear of this."

Sirius just smirked before nodding to her as he slung an arm around her shoulders. "I think this is the start to a _beautiful_ friendship." Cara just groaned, only imagining how this friendship would end up with me with grey hair and a high blood pressure from stress.

Days passed like this, and then the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. Cara felt no progress had been made mission-wise, as Teddy and she had yet to be trusted by the Order members to _actually_ assist in anything other than guarding Hogwarts and helping to clear out Headquarters of pesky magical creatures. Cara was about as fed-up with tackling Boggarts by now; _I am an Auror damnit, not a cleaner!_

Non-mission-wise however, quite a few things had happened. Teddy _still_ had yet to reach a decision to explain his parentage – much to Cara's annoyance; _he could at least decide something_ – but both had at least made fairly good friends; Teddy and Remus growing steadily closer when the latter was actually around at Headquarters (Tonks was here just as rarely), which was steadily growing less and less often, leaving Cara to deal with a moping Teddy. They had become friends from all their time spent together, but their fights had yet to dwindle, especially as Teddy's moping wore greatly on Cara's nerves. And throughout it all, Cara was beginning to understand the cabin-fever she suspected Sirius felt also, from being unofficially restrained to Headquarters or the Hogwarts grounds. Cara supposed that she wasn't supposed to be here anyway, and the fewer people that saw her, the better.

It seemed too quiet; then again it could have been due to the fact that Cara wasn't allowed to _do anything_.

Still... Cara thought it was all too quiet.

Something was tickling the back of her head. She couldn't quite remember what it was, but she was sure it was important. Huffing in frustration, Cara gave up her pursuit of the runaway idea and flopped back into the sofa beside Sirius, resting her head on his shoulder. Despite all the teasing from Sirius about her feelings for a certain Lupin – and it wasn't Remus – Cara felt quite close to Sirius. Like he was an annoying uncle she couldn't help loving anyway. She always liked listening to stories from Sirius, his story-telling truly magical. He didn't mind the company anyway, hating to be alone after all his time in Azkaban. Sirius abandoned the book he had been pretending to read and turned to look at her, "What's wrong love?"

"I have a feeling something bad is going to happen, and I _know_ what it is, but I can't _remember_!" Cara groaned, burying her face into his shoulder. "We had loads of drill lessons on the time period immediately before when we were to arrive, and only a brief overview of longer before. I hadn't expected to come this early into the year, so I didn't pay as much attention, but it's so annoying I could kick myself!"

Sirius chuckled at Cara's put out face. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing the Order can't handle, and if it _is_ really important I'm sure you'll remember whatever it is." Cara nodded reluctantly, closing her eyes to think again. "Anyway, Christmas in a week and the holidays in two days," Sirius said, a grin growing on his face, "I can't wait to see Harry again! I'm so _bored_ here."

"Oh, I feel so appreciated now."

"You know I don't mean you love." Sirius said with a chuckle, "I _loooooove_ you."

"Bite me." Cara said. _Bite me... wait..._ she shot to her feet suddenly, eyes wide as she saw how dark it was getting. "Sirius, what's the date?"

"What?"

"This is important Sirius, the date!"

"The 18th."

"Shit!" Cara raced out of the room, bumping into Teddy as she ran down the corridor.

"Gernet, where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"It's tonight Lupin."

"What is?"

"Nagini! She'll be there tonight! I have to go and help-"

Teddy's eyes widened as he too remembered vaguely what was to occur tonight, before his eyebrows pulled down into a frown. "You know the Order will never let us out by ourselves."

"Damnit Teddy, I don't care right now, I need to help-"

"I never said you couldn't go." Teddy smiled slightly at her look of surprise. "Go, I'll cover you for as long as I can."

"You aren't coming?"

"How much more suspicious would it look if we both left?" Cara nodded, before both turned to see Sirius with a puzzled look on his face. Before Sirius could get a word out, Teddy had flicked his wand and cast a _Petrificus Totalus_ on him. "Sorry Sirius, I'm just glad there aren't many members here tonight." He turned back to face Cara. "Go already; I've got your back. You _will_ be fine without me, right?"

Cara smirked slightly, "I'm an Auror too Lupin, I can handle anything you can."

Teddy nodded, a serious expression still on his face. Hesitantly, he pulled Cara into a quick hug, before releasing her just as quickly. "Try not to attract too much attention, and be careful; I don't want to find out you got eaten by a snake. Although you _are_ snack-size I suppose." Cara shoved him away from her slightly, smiling at his quiet chuckle. The sound of footsteps hurrying down the stairs alerted them to the fact they needed to hurry. Cara glanced at Teddy one last time, sending an apologetic look over at Sirius still frozen on the floor, before Apparating in a whirl of her cloaks. Teddy turned to face the stairs, sighing to himself. "Good luck..."


	5. Chapter 5

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Cara landed lightly on her feet in a dark room, wand out already and eyes scanning her surroundings. She recognised the room to be the Hall of Prophecy. She had spent many days in the Department of Mysteries in the summers as a child when her aunt Lissa brought her to her work. Cara was never privy to the exact experiments going on here, but she knew the general layout of the area, and what each room contained. She had been warned of the hazards by her aunt repeatedly before her aunt herself had forgotten the rules she had created for a younger Cara.

"_Lumos_." Keeping her wand light as low as possible, Cara moved through the cases of prophecies, hoping to find Mr. Weasley soon. _He has to be here somewhere_. Spotting a faint light glowing ahead, Cara hurried towards it, seeing the outline of Arthur. As she approached, she expected to see his wand pointed at her when Arthur heard her footsteps. Instead all she saw was his back to her. _What?-_

Arthur was suddenly thrown to the ground, and Cara's eyes widened at the sight of the giant snake rearing up to strike again. _Teddy wasn't off in saying that thing could eat me_. Acting reflexively, Cara stepped between Arthur and Nagini and whipped her wand out at the snake. "_Expelliamus!_" she cried, casting the huge snake back. Cara knew she had only really bought Arthur and herself some time, but she had no intention of seriously injuring the snake, at least not right now. Cara knew Harry's mind was in Nagini's, and she had no idea of the possible effects it could have on Harry should she harm the snake too much. "_Protego Maxima._" _That should buy a couple extra seconds._

Bending down, Cara cast a quick _Ferula_ on Arthur to bind his leg, partially slowing the bleeding, before moving to pull him to his feet. "C-Caroline? Is that you?" Arthur asked, groaning in pain. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll explain later Mr. Weasley; let's get you out of here first."

Arthur nodded his head, before his eyes widened as he looked over Cara's shoulder. "Caroline, watch out!"

She spun around to see a giant snake head barrelling towards her, jaw wide open and fangs bared. Cara screamed a _Protego_, but it had little effect and the snake rammed into her, sending her and Arthur to the floor. Cara managed to keep a hold of her wand, but a tearing painful sensation in her left shoulder jarred her movements. Looking at said shoulder, Cara saw the snake staring straight back at her, its teeth clamped deep into her flesh.

Pointing her wand at the snake, Cara blasted the thing off her shoulder, screaming when the teeth tore through her flesh. "It's okay Harry; it's not your fault." Cara knew Harry wasn't really in control of Nagini, but she knew he'd feel guilty regardless. At least this way it may relieve some of the guilt. Deciding not to take the risk in leaving the giant snake unscathed again, she started hexing it again and again, making it back-off and retreat, eventually slithering into the shadows and disappearing. _Merlin I hope that didn't hurt Harry_.

She turned back to Arthur, intending to help him to his feet, when a sharp wave of pain and dizziness made her collapse to the ground. _The venom..._ Cara tried to push herself up, but could only sit up while leaning shakily on her right arm. Blood and venom ran from her left shoulder, the sight of so much blood making her dizzier. "M-Mr. Weasley, are y-you okay?"

Arthur nodded his head to her, "I could have been a lot worse off without you here. Are _you_ okay?"

"J-Just a little... dizzy..."

"Caroline? Caroline!" Arthur grabbed her quickly when she fell again, startling slightly at all the blood. He had little healer knowledge, and with both their wands lost in the scuffle with Nagini, he was only able to press his hands on Cara's wound to try and stop the blood flow, although it seemed to do little to help. "Stay awake, Caroline; just stay awake until help gets here. Okay?" Cara managed to nod her head, blinking tears from her eyes rapidly. The pain was growing, but she never liked showing her pain, it felt like weakness. She honestly tried to stay awake as long as she could, but eventually the pain seemed to numb, and her vision grew dark. Her eyelids became heavier and more difficult to open, until eventually she let them close. The last thing she saw was a blur of turquoise.

"Cara!-"

* * *

Teddy hated St Mungo's. Maybe it was the smell, maybe it was the annoying nurses, or sad and anxious patients, maybe it was because he had to be here in his 'natural' form which he didn't particularly like, but maybe it was because the person he now considered his best friend was lying unconscious in the bed in front of him and nobody seemed to know how to fix it. _I told you to be careful_. He was so angry, but also worried and near desperate right now. So desperate in fact that he had even allowed for the use of Muggle stitches to treat Cara, seeing as they were the only things that seemed to work somewhat, at least until an antidote was found.

_She should be awake by now_.

Everyone else had returned to Headquarters except Teddy and Mrs. Weasley, both staying with Cara and Mr. Weasley respectively. Tentatively taking her limp hand in his, Teddy sighed in relief, feeling the warmth begin to return to her. She had been so cold when they had arrived at the hospital. "I should have gone with you... well, you aren't going to be leaving my sight for a while now Gernet... come _on_; you should be awake by now! Mr. Weasley woke up already."

Still nothing.

Cara hadn't even moved. Sighing in frustration and exhaustion – he had been awake for days just waiting for her to wake up – Teddy leant back in his uncomfortable chair, Cara's hand still firmly in his and closed his eyes, just for a little while at least. A hand on his shoulder made him open his eyes though, and he looked up to see Mrs. Weasley smiling gently down at him. "Come on dear, let's go to Headquarters and get some decent food into you."

"But-"

"Caroline will be fine here. Besides, you need to rest too. Arthur is just across the ward from her, he'll keep an eye on her for you."

Nodding in defeat, Teddy stood up from his chair and gently placed Cara's hand back onto the bed. Feeling the stiffness in his limbs, he twisted right and left, cracking his joints and groaned at the partial sense of relief that gave his weary body. Molly wrapped an arm around Teddy's arm and led him out of the hospital before Apparating them both to Headquarters. Immediately he was set upon by Sirius – who had grown quite attached to Cara – as well as Harry and many other Order members.

"Is she awake? Is she okay?" Sirius asked, "What's happened? She's not dead is she?"

Teddy shook his head, smiling a little at the desperate yet funny-looking expression on Sirius's face. "She's still unconscious but stable, Mrs. Weasley brought me back to rest."

Sirius frowned to himself, "I wish I could go see her."

"Don't worry Padfoot," Remus said patting his shoulder in a reassuring way, "I'm sure Ms Gernet will be back here soon enough. No doubt she can probably _feel_ the worry you're exuding Sirius. She'll be fine."

Sirius nodded, "Thanks mate."

"Anytime." Remus said, before looking back to Teddy. "Why don't we let Molly tend to Mr. Lupin now Padfoot? Let's play some chess or something."

Teddy moved to follow Mrs. Weasley to the kitchen, his stomach reminding him of how neglected he had been to it, when Harry moved and stopped him. "You... You knew that was going to happen, didn't you? Me attacking Mr. Weasley."

Teddy smiled down at Harry, feeling slightly surreal that he was able to look down at the father-figure of his in the future. "Harry, you didn't attack Mr. Weasley, you just witnessed the attack. It's not your fault. Gernet and I knew what was going to happen, but we forgot the exact date, so the rescue was all last minute. She knew the risks, but we're Aurors _and_ Order members, risk is our business. Besides, we couldn't just let Mr. Weasley be attacked like that. But _none_ of it is your fault."

Harry smiled slightly, "Cara said that too, even while I- while she was being attacked. She said it wasn't my fault."

"See? So no need for that guilt I know you're probably feeling, you were always one to take the blame for everything, especially if it wasn't your fault."

Harry looked puzzled now. "How do you seem to know me so well?"

"Well, let's just say that in the future, we're good friends." Teddy said with a smile, before a serious expression stole across his face. "Don't worry, from now on if Cara or I remember something _really_ important before our actual... mission... we'll try and help earlier. It just escaped our mind this time." Harry nodded. A hand wrapped around Teddy's arm, dragging him towards the kitchen.

"Come along now Teddy dear, I've got some things heating up for you. You too Harry if you're hungry."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."

"Not a problem dear, it's the least I can after... after what you've done for my family."

Teddy smiled, _maybe they're beginning to really trust us now._

* * *

_Pain_. That was the first thought Cara had when she began to return to consciousness. Her left shoulder and the area surrounding it were in agony, and it hurt to move at all. Tentatively wriggling the fingers of both hands, she sighed in relief that she _could_ still move them. _Now to open my eyes_. It took several attempts to actually open her eyes, and then a lot of blinking to get used to the sudden brightness of light. The familiar decor of St Mungo's welcomed her, and she stretched lightly before she looked around to see if anyone could tell her how ling she'd been out. It seemed like no one was there. At least until Cara heard some doors open and a mousy brown haired man walked in. He smiled at the sight of Cara and rushed to her, making her back up in bed slightly.

"Cara! You're finally awake!"

"Do- Do I know you?" The man grinned at her, before blinking his eyes and turning his hair momentarily turquoise. "Teddy? But you're hair-"

"Well, it wasn't really subtle before." Teddy said with a grin, tugging at the slightly longer mousy brown hair that now sat in place of his trademark turquoise.

"It's different."

"It's boring."

Cara narrowed her eyes slightly and took in his new look, before noticing something. "You didn't change your eyes?"

"No, I always like to keep my natural eyes."

Cara nodded, "They suit you." She said honestly, doubting that any colour other than that particular shade of blue-grey would suit Teddy; the way his eyes changed with his emotion was entirely reflected in his eyes.

Teddy started to grin, resting his elbow on the bed beside Cara and resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "You look at my _eyes_ now, do you?"

Cara flushed slightly, scowling at Teddy. "Just when I was beginning to think you were tolerable..."

Teddy chuckled, before a serious expression took over his face. "You really had me worried there Gernet."

"It wasn't like I _tried_ to get bitten. It just happened."

"Well make sure it doesn't happen again next time."

"It wasn't intentional, so how was I supposed to _stop_ it?"

"Fine! Don't be careful, next time someone will just go with you."

"I don't need a _babysitter_."

"I agree with Mr. Lupin this time Ms Gernet." Cara looked up and spotted Remus approaching her bed. With Teddy in his 'natural' form, both looked uncannily alike other than their hair colour, it was a wonder no one seemed to have noticed yet. "Safety first."

"But Mr. Lupin-"

"Now, now Ms Gernet," he said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "That is not to say we find you incapable of defending yourself; you have more than proved yourself by now. It is only for _our_ benefit to relieve our minds of worry for you. How does that sound?"

Cara was half glaring at Remus, _how come all Lupins seem to be able to twist words so you think you're winning when you really know that only they are? _"... Fine, next time I go on any sort of mission, I won't be alone. But you had better pity that poor sod that's stuck with me, because I'm not going to make it easy for them."

A smile started to spread across Remus' face. "Oh I'm sure we will all show the proper sense of pity for Mr. Lupin then."

"_Teddy?_ You're going to stick me with _Teddy_?"

"Remus, we'd kill each other if we had to work together any more than we already do." Teddy added, Cara for once agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

Remus just shook his head. "Wasn't it _you_ who suggested someone accompany Ms Gernet for her own safety?"

Cara tried to punch Teddy, but he easily caught her hand in his and held it against the bed while he glared at Remus. "I didn't mean _me_."

"Regardless, I think it would be a sound pairing." Remus said, "Both of you are from the same time, so a shared base of knowledge would already be present. You are of the same age, and both hold equal standing in the Order. And although you share a certain rivalry, by working together it offers you both a chance to grow and learn to overcome such childish behaviour, making you better people. You can't deny all that can you?"

Teddy sat thinking, attempting to work up a counter-argument while Cara narrowed her eyes at Remus. "You were the smooth-talker, weren't you Mr. Lupin?"

"I beg your pardon?" Remus looked at her in confusion.

"In the Marauders I mean. James got the equipment you needed to set up your pranks with his cloak. Sirius could be used as a distraction while you set up. Peter... was a rat. But you... you _may_ have been the brains behind the more elaborate plots, but you were the fallback. If anything went wrong, however wrong it could go, I bet it was you who sweet talked your way out of punishment afterwards, wasn't it?"

Remus sat smirking at her slightly, "Perhaps."

Cara nodded to herself, _runs in the family_. "So when can I get out of here?"

Teddy answered her, having just spoken to the healers before she woke up. "Are you in any pain?"

_Tonnes_. "Nope. I feel quite fine."

"Then the healers said you could come home today."

"Yes!"

"Ms Gernet, do not doubt that you are simply moving from the hospital bed to a bed in Headquarters. And I don't doubt that Mrs. Weasley will keep a keen eye one you."

Cara slumped a little in defeat, but nodded her head. It was better to be stuck in a bed in a place with familiar people, right? Remus just watched as Teddy sparked yet another spat between the two of them, smiling to himself, as he seemed to have failed to mention the fact that Teddy had yet to let go of Cara's hand, despite all the insults being thrown between the pair of them.


	6. Chapter 6

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 6

"I'm _fine_ Lupin."

"Let me carry you in, since you refused the wheelchair-"

"If you touch me I will rip off your arms and beat you to death with them. Understood?"

"Crystal."

The other occupants of the Order currently present at Headquarters could only shake their heads as they heard the voices of Cara and Teddy returning from the hospital. Even through the _front door_ their bickering could be heard. The door opened to reveal Cara and Teddy, glaring at each other, as always. Other than being a little pale and with a sling carrying her left arm, Cara looked completely normal. The moment she had stepped foot into the house there were cheers of welcome and thanks, and she was swept up in a tight hug and spun round and round.

Teddy raced in after her, dropping the bags he was carrying, hands out ready to catch Cara should she be dropped. "Sirius, be careful with her! She's just healed, barely."

"Right, sorry." Sirius said, dropping Cara to her feet. "You're better now though, right?"

"Yes-"

Teddy interrupted her, "She's not completely healed yet. She needs to take it easy for a couple more days."

Cara scowled at Teddy, _snitch_, before turning back to face Sirius. "Sorry we had to knock you out Sirius."

He waved her off, "It's fine."

"Yes," Remus said, smirking at Sirius. "It's only Padfoot who you knocked out, no one important."

Everyone burst out laughing at Sirius' put out face. Searching for another topic to change to, Sirius' eyes lit up as he remembered something. "Cara, you have to try my cake!"

She blinked at him, "... What?"

Teddy leant down and stage whispered to Cara. "Sirius was _very_ bored without you to entertain him, and decided to make a cake, Muggle-style, for your welcome back."

Cara looked up at Teddy with a raised eyebrow. "It _is_ edible, isn't it?"

He looked back at her, "_Sirius _made it."

"Hey!" Sirius said, "It looks alright. Right Moony?" Remus said nothing, shuffling away with a smile on his face. "Harry likes my cake, don't you Harry?" Harry gave an unconvincing smile to his godfather, before apologising and fleeing the hall with his friends. "None of you have even _tried_ it yet!"

"And I doubt any of us ever will." Cara sniggered at Teddy's comment, before quickly schooling her face as Sirius turned round to face her suddenly innocent face. For good measure, Cara whacked Teddy in the stomach with her good arm.

_That _made Sirius smile.

* * *

Three days later, and after much begging and pleading, Cara was now free from her sling, her potions and her bed rest. Relishing her 'freedom' she ran down the stairs in search of someone, anyone, to talk to. She had been very bored and very lonely stuck in bed. Sirius would stay with her often, but today he hadn't been. And Teddy and everyone else were busy with 'Order business' apparently. Nearing the ground floor, Cara heard more voices and noise. _What's going on?_ Spotting two redheads, a pink-head and a turquoise-head, all crouched down and childishly looking over the banister of the stairs, Cara decided to find out what was happening.

"What are you all looking at?"

All four people in front of her jumped in shock, making Cara chuckle to herself, as she was the target of four pairs of glaring eyes. "Gernet, how many times do you have to give me a heart attack?"

"As many times as it remains amusing Lupin."

Tonks blinked at Cara, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"That's right Gernet," said Fred.

His twin George continued, "Mum won't be happy if she sees you out of bed."

Cara grinned smugly at them all. "I... am _free_." Her comment earned a chuckle from the group, before they all turned back to look down the stairs. "So what were you all looking at anyway?"

"There's an Order meeting tonight," Tonks said, her eyes still fixed downstairs where an ever-growing number of people were entering. "We're welcoming some new members apparently. It's really exciting, _new people_."

"Or as we like to think," the twins said, sharing a grin, "Fresh meat."

"Don't prank them too much," Cara said. "They _are _on our side too you know?"

"Hey... isn't that-" Tonks didn't finish her sentence, but she had grabbed the attention of the group. "Hmm... let's go downstairs and join them. We're going to meet them eventually anyway."

The five of them descended the last flight of stairs, Tonks hurrying to Remus' side as he welcomed guests into the house. Sirius managed to find the group quickly enough, and herded them into the ballroom where everyone was gathering. A space had been unofficially sectioned off in the centre, presumably to introduce the new guests. Cara stood by Teddy, waiting excitedly for the introductions. Soon enough Dumbledore had arrived, and with a look at the chattering crowd he had silenced the large room instantly. Waving his hand to the newcomers, a small crowd approached him.

"Fellow members, in our time of need it gives me great pleasure to welcome new members and old friends to the Order of the Phoenix!" cheers echoed around the room and applause filled the room. "Now let me introduce you to the new members..." Cara counted six people in the group, but it was the two people at the end of the group who caught her attention. Their heads bent together and acting almost obliviously to the crowd around them. They looked so sweet to her, the much taller man hunched over quite a bit to accommodate for the woman's height. That was all that initially caught her attention, until Dumbledore said their names. "... And last but not least Sam Gernet and Lena Potter."

Cara's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock as the couple turned to face the crowd. There in front of her stood her parents.

Her _parents_.

_Her_ age.

She felt a little faint.

Cara watched her father drape an arm around her mother, his eyes – Cara's eyes – sparkling happily as he looked at the crowd with a big grin on his face. His dark blonde hair was a little longer than the pictures Cara had seen of him, just reaching his ears and looking like a tornado had hit him. The woman beside him looked the spitting image of Cara, except for her dark brown eyes. "Actually Dumbledore, it's Gernet for me too. Two weeks now."

"My apologies Mrs. Gernet, and my congratulations." Dumbledore turned back to the crowd, half of which was now staring silently at the final couple. "Now don't be shy, today we welcome our new members. The world can wait one day." And then he stepped into the fireplace behind him and vanished in a flash of fire.

Teddy looked down at Cara in concern. She was stood completely still and had not even blinked in what seemed forever, her expression frozen on her face. "Hey, Gernet-"

"Shh!" Cara hissed at him, awoken from her stupor. "You can't call me that, not while _they're_ here!"

"What do I call you then?"

Cara raised an eyebrow at him. _Well at least she's acting normally again,_ Teddy thought. "Oh, I don't know Lupin, whatever could you call me? My _name_, idiot!"

"Caroline-"

She whacked the back of his head. "Not _that_ you fool."

"Cara?" she nodded at him. Teddy pulled a face at her. "It feels weird saying your name."

"It feels just as weird hearing you call me that, but as long as _they_ are here, that is what you are to call me. Understand?"

Teddy nodded his head to her. "Why don't you want them to know they're your parents?"

Cara glared at him, "Hypocrite. I have my reasons." Teddy was about to respond again when a deep voice cut through the crowd.

"Tonks?"

The rest of the small group, of which Cara and Teddy seemed to have forgotten, all turned to the speaker to see the Gernets approaching. Tonks stepped forward, "Hey Sam, long time no see."

He grinned at her, "Yeah, I heard you became an Auror. How'd you pass Stealth?"

Tonks glared at him but Lena punched his shoulder. "Like you can talk Sam, you trip over thin air."

"It's my height."

"It's your lack of balance."

Sam glared at his wife, before his face melted into a smile and he pecked her head lightly. Turning back to Tonks he seemed unable to stop the grin on his face – a grin Teddy noticed resembled Cara's greatly. "Tonks, this is my _charming_ wife Lena."

"I remember you from Hogwarts, I love your hair."

"Thanks." Tonks said, touching her bubblegum pink hair lightly. "Let me introduce some of the Order members to you. These two are Fred and George Weasley. That scraggly one over there is Sirius Black, he's innocent, I'll explain later. This is Remus Lupin, and Teddy Lupin, no relations that I know of. And of course Cara-"

"Garret." Cara said interrupting Tonks, "Cara Garret, pleasure to meet you both."

Sam smiled at them all, reaching out and shaking everyone's hands. Lena did the same, pausing when she came to Cara. "Cara, that's a lovely name."

Cara couldn't help beaming, "It's short for Caroline."

"I've always loved that name, it suits you."

Cara just watched half in awe as they moved on around the room, with Tonks introducing them to everyone. Teddy watched her in concern again, not a feeling he usually associated with her, but she had been stood still as a statue for quite a while. Hesitantly he reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. That was all it seemed to take. Cara broke down in tears, spinning around and burying her face in Teddy's chest while she sobbed her heart out. Teddy stepped back in shock, but she just followed him, her arm wrapped tightly around his torso. He looked up to the people around him, but since all were men and none had a clue about how to deal with women – especially _crying_ women – they looked just as clueless as he did. Sighing and deciding to go with common sense, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Cara, hoping to Merlin she wouldn't kill him.

Thankfully she didn't, and instead her crying quietened down slightly. "I think I'll take her to her room, before she draws too much attention."

With a huff he lifted Cara into his arms and made his way through the crowd to the stairs, walking quickly up them and stopping outside of Cara's designated room. Teddy hesitated before stepping in. It seemed likely to him that when Cara's crying was over she would kill him for even stepping foot into her room. Friends now or not, Cara _had_ always been very protective of her own space. Resigning himself to his fate, he opened the door and stepped inside, dropping Cara onto the bed. She still clung onto him though, and was still crying for some unknown reason.

"What's this Gernet? I thought you were a tough nut." She kept crying. _Damn it_. "If you keep crying, I'll think you're turning soft." _Nope, still crying_. Teddy reached over and held her hand in his in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "Come on, tell me why you're crying." Sucking up his pride he leant down and asked, "Do you want a hug?"

Receiving a small nod, Teddy sat Cara up in bed and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her again.

"Please tell me what's wrong?"

Cara sniffed a while longer before speaking to Teddy's relief. "It'll sound stupid."

"I'm sure that whatever is making the unshakeable Caroline Gernet cry is _not_ stupid." That got a small smile out of her, making Teddy smile. "I mean, in all the years I've known you, and after all the trouble I caused you, I have never _once_ seen you cry. It can't be that stupid, and if it is I promise not to laugh."

"... It's just... after the end of all this, when we go back to our time, you'll have your parents again, Harry will have Sirius, and the Wizarding world will once again be safe from Voldemort. But I'll be all alone again, with an auntie that no longer remembers me and a life that revolves around my job. My parents are going to _die_ in just _two_ years, and I can't do anything to stop it."

"I'm sure you could-"

"No Lupin. If I save them and they weren't meant to be saved, who knows how that will affect the future. I have to sit here and watch as the seconds of their lives tick by. I've never felt so helpless. We might be saving the world, but I'll just be returning to an equally lonely existence once everything's over. What's the point of me being here? You I can understand; this is your own family you're going to save and the people close to you. But me? I have no reason to be here."

"Then why did you come?"

"I don't know."

"Well, maybe you're here to be the sensible one that keeps me under control. Yeah, I can see it. You brains, me brawn." Cara started laughing at Teddy's caveman impression. "Aha! I made you laugh!"

"Yeah, yeah. Get over yourself already." Cara said, still smiling as she wiped at her wet and teary face. "Merlin, I must look a mess."

"It's not so bad." Teddy said, wiping at her face too with a sleeve.

"Thanks."

"No problem," he said, "Besides, you won't be alone when we get back. Sirius will be there, and I'm sure he'd have missed you loads. And all the others will be happy to see you again, now that they know you. And if you're _really_ desperate for company, I'll be there."

Cara smiled again, "I'm sure you'd rather stay with Victoire."

"Victoire?"

"Yes, she's you're girlfriend if I remember. You probably miss her loads."

"Erm, I do miss her, but not more than the others. We broke up a year ago."

"Oh... sorry." Teddy shrugged her comment off. Cara and Teddy sat talking softly for a while longer, before Teddy noticed that Cara's responses were coming slower and quieter. Her eyes were blinking sleepily, and figuring her crying had tired her out. Laying her back down on her bed, he pulled off her shoes and moved to stand from the bed when a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned and spotted her silver eyes just managing to be seen under her half-closed eyelids. "Can you stay? Please? I-I don't want to be alone."

"... Sure, I guess."

Teddy took off his own shoes and lay back on the bed beside Cara, leaving about half a foot of space between them. It was a little awkward at first, what with the two only fairly recently having agreed to put their rivalry behind them. But soon enough once they had both fallen asleep, the awkward atmosphere disappeared, and both were drawn unconsciously to each other, reaching out a hand. Sirius peered into the room to check on them hours later, but left them with a smile on his face. He wasn't one to sit back when a friend of his harboured a secret love for another. If he and Moony had managed to get Lily to fall for James, then this would be easy.

Hopefully.

As soon as he got Moony's help.

_If_ he did.

"Oi, Moony!"


	7. Chapter 7

******Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Cara stared at the amber liquid before her, sitting innocently enough in the old crystal glass courtesy of the Black family. Looking up at the man beside her, she watched Remus sip periodically at his own glass of Firewhiskey. Raising a sceptical eyebrow at him, she only received an encouraging nod in response. Seeing no harm in _one_ drink, Cara delicately raised the glass to her lips and took a small sip, sighing at the small burn she felt sliding down her throat. It wasn't bad.

"It's not too strong for you is it?"

"No, it's fine. I just haven't had it in a while." Cara said, sipping again at her drink. "So... what did you want to talk about?"

"Nothing in particular, I just thought it would be nice to get to know you a little better. You seem to have gained Sirius' friendship, and any friend of his is a friend of mine." Remus grinned at her, "I hope you realise that Sirius will pester you for the rest of your life now that you're his friend."

Cara chuckled a little at his comment, nodding to herself as she imagined the old dog following her around even as her hair grew grey. "I figured as much."

"Yes, take it from someone who knows." Remus took another sip of his drink, and Cara took the time to look around her at the library they were sat in. There were _so_ many books, Cara was reminded of her time in Hogwarts again, were she spent many a day amongst the books. There were some stereotypes that seemed to stick with being a Ravenclaw. "Do you like books?"

"Oh yes, very much." Cara said. And so began a long talk between the two on books, pranks, Hogwarts, friends and many other things, which lasted several drinks long. Only interrupted when a big, black, shaggy dog ran into the otherwise peaceful library and leapt onto Cara's lap, knocking her backwards in her chair. "Sirius! Get off of me!"

"Padfoot-"

Teddy ran into the room, panting and out of breath. "Sirius, when I said a race to find Gernet I didn't mean _literally_ to her."

"Lupin, Remus, either one of you, get him _off_ me!" Cara said, trying to avoid the saliva dripping from Sirius' grinning face above her. Teddy hurried to her side and heaved Sirius off of her, handing him to Remus before helping Cara to her feet. "Bloody hell Lupin, a _race_? Why don't you act your age and not your shoe-size for a change?"

Teddy rolled his eyes at her, but shared a smirk with his unwitting father when she started to scold Sirius. After all, it wasn't everyday you saw a girl scold a dog almost as big as she was.

"-And further more you bloody dog, you made me spill my Firewhiskey! And it was a good one too."

Remus cleared his throat, "Erm, Ms Gernet I have more Firewhiskey if you want."

"That's not the point, it's the principles I'm talking about." She spotted Teddy rolling his eyes at her statement. "Don't roll your eyes at me Lupin. Just because I have a high regard for principle-"

"You mean you _only_ have a regard for principle-"

"I do not!"

Remus and Sirius slowly backed out of the room and the inevitable word battle beginning already. Remus patted Sirius on the head, smiling a little at the doggy grin he received. "Do they remind you of Prongs and Lily just before they started dating? Because I'm just getting déjà vu here Padfoot."

_CRASH!_

"Gernet!" Teddy shouted with a surprised look on his face. More often than not their arguments would end with them, wands aimed at each other and scowls on their faces, but it had been _years_ since they had last actually hexed each other. He was now sat amongst the remains of one of the bookcases, splintered wood and books surrounding him. Still, he looked more shocked than hurt.

"Oh shut up Lupin, I didn't actually _mean_ to hex you... this time." Cara said, pocketing her wand and walking to him. She stretched out a hand to help him up, but all Teddy did was pull her down into the pile of books he was in. Cara managed to suppress the scream of surprise she had bubbling in her chest, and sat up glaring at Teddy whilst rubbing her arm where it had landed on the corner of a particularly hard hardback book. "Oh _real_ mature."

"It's called payback."

"I didn't _mean_ to hit you, I was just thinking about it." Cara said.

"Well you must have been thinking about it very hard then."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Teddy raised an eyebrow at this now, before a smirk slowly made its way across his face. "Can this be true? The great Caroline Gernet _finally_ yields defeat and _apologises_?" he got to his feet quickly, the smirk never leaving his face. "I shall cherish this moment forever. But it seems almost too much for only me to have... I know, I will go and share this momentous news with _everyone_!"

Cara glared at him, whipping out her wand and locking the door the moment he made his way towards it. And when Teddy pulled out his wand to unlock the door, Cara simply _Accio_-ed his wand, tucking it into her belt and smirking at his put out face. "Not so fast Lupin, I have a reputation and I'm not about to let you go and ruin it."

"Give me my wand back Gernet."

Cara grinned, "No."

Teddy dove at her, Cara just dodging and rolling away. Scrambling to her feet she ran to find cover behind another bookcase, Teddy's fast approaching footsteps making her run faster. She enchanted several books around her to fly back and distract Teddy, laughing when she heard him cursing the books. This was one thing she had missed especially about her days in Hogwarts. However much she _seemed_ to dislike Teddy to all that knew them, she loved the rivalry they had had. Everyday there was the chances of being pranked or humiliated by him or the chances of pranking him herself. The risk was thrilling. And she was addicted to the excitement she felt when they had particularly fiery arguments. Cara loved that she seemed to be the only one to ever rile the usually cool, calm, collected and _perfect_ Theodore Remus Lupin. No one else ever seemed to piss him off like she did. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Cara slowed to a stop as she noticed she could no longer hear footsteps behind her.

"Lupin?" she called out, "Give up already?"

Looking around, it began to unnerve her; the silence that was now present. Sensing that it was Teddy's doing, Cara kept her eyes alert all around her. A plan began to form in her mind, and she quickly set about heading to the door. _Maybe if I can get to the library door unnoticed, I can quickly exit and lock Lupin in by himself_, Cara thought to herself, _see how long he likes being stuck in here_. Ever alert, Cara began to make her way back to the door, her wand never leaving her hand. Once the door was in sight, Cara grinned and made a dash towards the door, hoping to avoid any ambush Teddy had planned.

Not three feet from the door the sound of hurried footsteps behind Cara made her spin around, wand ready to hex Teddy only for her to be shoved backwards into the wall. Groaning from the stinging in her back, Cara opened her eyes ready to scold Teddy for running straight into her only to stop short at what she saw. Not two inches from her face was Teddy, grinning down at the girl he had pinned against the wall with his body. His grin slowly fell though as tense and awkward atmosphere fell over them, once they realised how close they actually were.

Every breath Teddy let out Cara felt blow against her cheek and his chest press into hers. He had her pinned to the wall with his body, her wrists – and therefore her wand – trapped by his hands. Cara had been close to Teddy before, but not like _this_. Usually when the two were this close it was because one had tackled the other in anger, or they were shouting insults to each other or other similar situations. Cara didn't know what to do, and hoped to Merlin that she wasn't blushing. For a moment all Cara saw was the blue-grey colour of Teddy's eyes, and she didn't notice that she was slowly being drawn towards the source of the colour.

Teddy abruptly let go of her, stepping back slightly. Cara didn't dare move, watching him in a daze and missing the contact slightly. Reaching out with one hand, he waved it over the doorknob, unlocking and opening the door. _I didn't know he could do wandless magic, why didn't he do that before?_ He stepped fully away from Cara now as he reached for her side and plucked his wand from her belt. Without a word Teddy left the library and Cara in it, the tense atmosphere never leaving either of them. Cara placed a hand to her chest, desperately hoping that her heart would stop beating so fast.

Just outside the room, having witnessed everything unnoticed, Remus turned to the still dog-form-Sirius and nodded his head. "I guess you were right for once; it does look like a bigger job than expected."

* * *

_Three weeks later..._

* * *

"Come on, where's your courage?"

"I'm not the Gryffindor Lupin. Remember? Me brains, and my brains are saying this is a really stupid idea!-"

"Shh..." Cara's voice was cut off by a warning bark from Snuffles. Teddy slapped a hand over her mouth, pulling her to him as he pressed himself against a wall, hidden in the shadows. They remained silent, Snuffles pawing at the ground by their feet as they watched a group of people pass within inches off them. "Do you _want_ us to get caught?"

Cara glared at Teddy, and when he didn't pull his hand away she bit him, smirking at his pained face. "Lupin this was a bad idea from the very start. We are risking a lot here."

"We risk our lives every day as Aurors-"

"It's not just our lives Lupin! We are risking the trust we have only _just_ gained from the Order, we are risking _exposing_ the Order, and if anything particularly awful happens to us we are risking our _very important mission!_"

Teddy held his hands up, eyes not moving from the wand currently aimed straight at his face. "Alright, calm down."

Cara growled at him, but pocketed her wand again, running a hand through her dark hair in frustration. "What even made me agree with this? Dumbledore specifically told us not to leave the house because he got word that Voldemort was suspicious about us since Nagini saw me in the Hall of Prophecies. Being in Knockturn Alley is practically _asking_ for trouble!"

"I know, I know... but we never really _planned_ what we'd do for the mission. I just thought that since we were here earlier than expected, we could try and nip the problem before it became a bigger problem." Teddy said, aware that Snuffles was watching and listening with great interest about their secret mission.

"Practical, but not logical." Cara said, "What, were you planning on finding a Death eater meeting, bursting in and capturing them all?"

"..."

"_Un_believeable-"

"Alright, I know it was a bad idea. I just... I wanted to do something, it's so frustrating just sitting indoors." Snuffles nodded his head. "See? Sir- Snuffles agrees with me."

"Boredom is not an excuse for potentially deadly situations." Cara then glared at Snuffles, "And _you_ should not have come with us especially."

"Cool it Gernet," Teddy said as he draped an arm around her shoulders. "We can head back now and still have plenty of time before anyone even comes back and notices we're not there."

"Interesting." Teddy, Cara and Snuffles froze at the voice, a chill running down their spines at the cackle that followed it. "So you wouldn't be missed for a while then, would you?" turning slowly, the three were met by the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband and brother-in-laws, Fenrir Greyback along with a few other familiar _Deatheaters'_ faces. All were watching the small group with malicious amusement, Bellatrix with her wand out already. "Out alone too now, are we?"

Cara nudged Teddy with her elbow, whispering to him. "What do we do now?"

"You're the brains remember, so you tell me!"

Cara considered their options. Teddy and she were skilled duellers, but they were outnumbered quite a bit, and with Sirius with them she didn't wish to expose him. She especially didn't want Sirius to get killed, otherwise she would not only lose someone she was particularly fond of, but the whole point – or 33% – of their mission would have been ruined already. Bellatrix stepped closer to the three, her gaze alternating between Cara and Sirius in particular, pausing on Cara. "_You_ are of great interest to my master. And what my master wants, he shall get."

Keeping her eyes on the Deatheaters she uttered one word in reply to Teddy. "Run."

Teddy threw a _Bombarda_ at the Deatheaters, before grabbing Cara's wrist and leading the three of them out of the small alley. Cara periodically threw back a few spells at the Deatheaters, as well as trying to maintain a _Protego_ on their backs. Ducking for cover in a shop doorway, Cara defended their position as Teddy turned to Sirius, an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry Snuffles, but believe me when I say that your life is too important to risk. Get help while you're there." He quickly clipped on a collar around Sirius' neck. "_Portus_." In a second and before Sirius could protest he had vanished, back to the Order Headquarters where Teddy had set the Portkey to go to.

"Is Snuffles safe?"

"Yeah, he's gone." Teddy said, moving to help Cara. "What's the plan now?"

"Hold our position until help gets here. Don't let the Deatheaters escape, and defeat and capture the Deatheaters if possible."

Teddy raised an eyebrow at her, "That sounds an awful lot to do."

"I know."

"And if we can't take them?"

"Then we get the hell out of here. We have more important work to do."

"Got it."

The two steadily made their way back towards the Deatheaters, helping passer-bys get safely away as they went. Through combined attacks, they managed to knock out and bind four of the Deatheaters when they heard the first 'POP's of others Apparating behind them. Turning around they saw Order members appearing in the area in bursts of white, a human Sirius among them. A sense of relief flowed through the two of them at the sight, and Teddy couldn't help sending a quick grin back to Cara, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

Without a second thought he jumped over Cara's crouched form, uttering a _Protego_ only a split-second too slow as he took a _Crucio_ meant for Cara from Rodolphus Lestrange. He instantly fell to the ground, convulsing in pain and only barely able to keep a hold of his wand. Cara flicked her wand at Rodolphus, "_Stupefy!_" grinning vaguely at the fallen form of the Deatheaters, before hurrying to Teddy's side. Grabbing one arm she hauled the still pained Teddy up into a sitting position, his arm looped around her neck and preparing herself to stand them both up, only for a shadow to fall over them. Cara looked up to see the sneering face of Fenrir looming over her. _I shouldn't have let my guard down_, Cara thought, raising her wand only for Fenrir to backhand her hard.

She was knocked back onto the ground – and Teddy with her – and a foot was smashed into her wrist, making her drop her wand from the sudden pain. Before she even had time to recover, a thick hand wrapped around her neck, and Cara felt herself being lifted from the ground completely, making it harder and harder to breathe. She found herself face-to-face with the terrifyingly gleeful face of Fenrir. Teddy struggled up to help her, but found a wand pointed at his face by a very disgruntled Rodolphus. Cara's last glimpse of the Order was Sirius hurrying towards her, before black smoke surrounded them and she felt the familiar squeeze of being Apparated.

_What the bloody hell do we do now?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Cara's eyes were already set to glare when the black smoke around her cleared. And the first person she was glaring at was the man – monster really – who saw still squeezing her neck. She was dropped suddenly from his grip though. She preferred this slightly to being in Fenrir's grip, the pain in her butt from hitting the cold stone floor was worth being that little bit further from him. Before she even had time to take in her surroundings, Cara felt a body fall into hers, knocking the air from her lungs. Bellatrix's all too familiar cackle, along with a threat of a visit later if they misbehaved, were some of the last things Cara heard. But it wasn't the last.

It was the deafening, echoing, clanging sound of metal doors closing that chilled Cara to her very bones.

The dark did not frighten her. The small space did not scare her. The fact that she was currently captured by Deatheaters and Voldemort did not even scare her as much as she had imagined.

But she _was_ terrified of being trapped. Caged in. A prisoner.

Reminding herself to remain calm, Cara pushed the body off of her and turned to see who it was in the small amount of light, her eyes already aching from the strain of seeing in the fair darkness. To her relief, it _was_ Teddy, and he was alive if only unconscious. She took the time to look around her, noting the brick stone walls on all sides except for one wall in which there was a door. Dark wood and metal bolts, too hard for her to simply break down. Even with a window in the room, it was so small and had six thick metal bars across it so the early evening sunlight was finding it difficult to reach them. There didn't seem to be anywhere specifically for sleeping, so Cara felt that there was no point in moving Teddy from where he was already laying.

"Hey, Lupin." She said, shaking him, "Wake up. We need to get out of here."

"Nghff..."

"Lupin, get _up_!" he turned onto his side, but after that passed out again. Sighing in defeat, Cara decided to wait until Teddy woke up before attempting any escape. Or until the Deatheaters returned. Whichever came first. Pulling him into her lap, Cara shuffled so his head was cradled in her arms. She hoped to Merlin that nothing had happened to his head. She may be the brains, but she needed the brawns to help them _both_ get out.

* * *

"_Hello?"_

Cara jumped at the voice, so soft and quiet she almost thought she was imagining things... had it not repeated.

"_Hello?"_

She shook Teddy again, urging him to wake up. Normally she would have had no problem with dealing with whatever she _was_ dealing with. But right now she was wandless, tired, hungry, cold and trying to remain calm about being captured and held in a dungeon-like room. Teddy was still out cold though.

"_P-Please... someone be there..."_

The voice sounded so broken Cara couldn't help feeling sorry for whoever the voice belonged to. Placing Teddy back gently onto the ground, she stood up and looked around her. Swallowing nervously, she answered. "Who is it?"

"_You're here! Someone's here!"_ the voice cried from behind one of the stone walls, suddenly filled with joy. _"Are you here to rescue us?"_

"I don't understand. Who are you?"

"_I'm Adam. Who are you?"_

The still light tone caused Cara to pause. Kneeling beside the wall, Cara braced herself for what she was about to ask. "My name is Cara. I'm twenty-one years old... Can you tell me how old you are Adam?"

"_I'm five years old."_

Cara could practically hear the smile in his voice, tearing up at the sound of it. "Well what's a little boy like you doing here? Where are your parents?"

"_I... I don't know..."_

Cara could hear his sniffles through the wall, and they hurt her to hear. Anger filled her also, as she planned the demise of those responsible for Adam's problems. For some unexplainable reason she felt responsible over Adam. "Well don't worry Adam. I'll take care of you."

"_You promise?"_

"I promise." Cara said, "I'll take care of you. Lupin too."

"_Who's Lupin?"_

"Teddy Lupin. He's my- a... friend. He's here with me too."

Cara smiled when she heard a small giggle through the wall. _"Why do you call him Lupin? It sounds silly."_

"I don't know, I just do. But I'm sure you can call him Teddy-"

"Gernet?"

"Adam I'll be right back. Lupin's just woken up, but I'm still here, okay?"

"'_Kay."_

Cara ran to Teddy's side, leaning over him to see if he was awake. His eyes were flickering beneath his eyelids, which were slowly opening to reveal his familiar blue-grey eyes. She grinned, telling herself it was from relief and _nothing_ else. She waited for him to wake up fully, watching him adjust to the darkness around them. "Took you long enough Lupin." He grunted out a response, but didn't manage much else before Cara had pulled him to his feet and dragged him to Adam's wall. "Adam? You still there?"

"_Yup."_

"Adam?" Teddy said, still groggy. "Who's Adam?"

* * *

"I don't like this Gernet. It's been quiet for too long."

"We _know_, now shut up about it."

A giggle drifted in through the wall,_ "Hehe, you said 'shut up'."_

Cara smiled at the wall she was leaning on, Teddy beside her and Adam presumably leaning on the other side of the wall to them. They had talked for quite a while, filling in the long silence and empty darkness. Both she and Teddy had dropped their wands when they were Apparated here. Apparently Teddy's wandless magic tricks were small and useless against the multiple locking spells on the door here. And Adam was only five so he knew no magic anyway. Cara huffed in annoyance, folding her arms in her anger at her helplessness. She _hated_ being helpless to anything. She was a _bloody_ Auror for Merlin's sake!

Suddenly there were footsteps heard echoing on the other side of the door, and the three of them froze.

Cara shuffled closer to Teddy as the locks on the door to their cell were heard being opened, and the bright light which streamed in through the suddenly open door almost blinded them both. In what time it took for their eyes to adjust, Cara felt herself being roughly pulled up and dragged out of the room. "Let go of her! What are you going to do to her?" she heard Teddy cry as she started to fight against the hands holding on to her. Her eyes were still struggling against the sudden brightness, and the most she could make out were blurry blobs of colour, Teddy distinctive from the cloaked figures sweeping into their cell by his bright turquoise hair.

It seemed like only seconds later Cara found herself in darkness again, _another cell_, she thought, _is this where they torture me?_ She steadied herself for whatever they might do to her when she heard a small whimper not her own, and then a scream also not her own.

Scanning the room she spotted a small thin and scarred boy whimpering in the corner with his hands over his ears and eyes tightly shut. _Adam_.

And through the wall she heard Teddy's screams of agony. Of _torture_.

Cara ran to gather Adam in her arms before facing the wall between Adam's cell and her old cell. Only perhaps a foot of stone stood between her and any help she could give to Teddy. Her heart ached at every cry she heard resonating through the wall, but she hugged Adam closer to her when she heard nothing. _Lupin won't tell them anything_. She knew that, Teddy knew that, even the Deatheaters probably knew that. So the only reason for hurting him that she could think of was either for their own sick fun, or to terrify Cara enough into spilling what Teddy wouldn't. _They can try, anything Lupin can do I can do too_. Plus, she wouldn't let his agony go in vain by bowing down to the Deatheaters at the first sign of torture herself.

But it didn't make it any less painful to hear.

"They won't stop," she heard Adam whisper to her, his eyes wide and frightful as they stared up at her. She looked down at the little boy in her arms, exactly as she imagined him to look; thinner and smaller than he should be, hair dirty, but with more scars than Cara had imagined. _What had they done to him?_ The only solace she saw was that although his dark eyes were looking terrified right now, she also saw the determined set of his jaw in his attempts of not being frightened. She promised herself that she would protect this boy. "They never stop until they go quiet... they only hurt one person at a time. I don't know what happened to the lady who was here before you. It took her so long until she went quiet."

Cara's heart almost broke at the knowledge that this was not the first time Adam had heard someone being tortured... but hopefully this would not be another time of silence.

Sliding down the wall, Cara turned Adam to face her as he sat in her lap and placed her hands over his ears, muffling the sound of Teddy still screaming in the background. "Tell me all about you Adam, anything you like."

He looked up at her with a puzzled look on his face. "But Teddy-"

"I want to know all about you, and so does Teddy. He can hear us right now, and I bet hearing all about you will make him feel a lot better," _or at least it will give him something to hold on to, to take his mind off whatever they were doing to him_.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now what's your favourite thing to eat in the _whole_ world."

"Chocolate." And so Cara continued with her questions and Adam continued answering them.

It felt like an eternity to Cara before Teddy's screaming stopped, and then another fear altogether took over her. _No, he wouldn't have died or he'd have me to answer to._ Adam lay dozing in her arms, tired and scared still, but unable to completely give in to sleep because of all the screams. He had craved human contact, and had yet to let go off Cara at all since she had been tossed into his cell. Not that Cara wanted to let him go either. He was her anchor, stopping herself screaming in anger, rage and sadness at the sounds she was hearing.

The sound of the cell door being opened again had Adam clinging tighter to Cara, and both whimpered at the sting the bright light caused them again. Cara half-expected for Adam to be removed from her arms and find herself alone to face the Deatheaters again, but felt nothing. Watching them, they were all moving in a hurry, wands out and ready to face some unseen opponent. _Something big is going on._ A body was once again flung into the room before the door was closed shut, and Cara almost didn't recognise Teddy.

No visible scars told her that he had been subject to the Cruciatus curse more than anything. His bright turquoise hair was now a mousy brown again and his skin paler than normal. He also wasn't moving.

Cara hurried to his side, Adam clinging to her still, and turned Teddy over. She almost cried in relief at seeing his chest still moving as he breathed. _At least he's still alive_... "Dear Merlin Teddy, what did they _do_ to you?"

"Will Teddy be okay?"

"Of course he will be, he's Lupin. Besides, I haven't given him permission not to be okay."

"When will he wake up?"

"R-Right now..."

"Lupin!" his grey eyes could be seen peeking out from the slits of his eyelids, and Cara could even see the telltale signs of a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. She barely thought about her actions as she bent down and hugged him, only pulling back when she heard him grunt in pain. _Idiot! He's just been tortured! _"Sorry Lupin, I didn't mean to-"

"I know, I know..." his eyes flickered to the smaller face peering down at him from my arms. "So you must be Adam."

"Uh-huh."

"I know a lot about you, you know."

Adam's face lit up, "You heard us? Did it help you?"

"It sure did."

Adam literally sagged against Cara in relief, and Cara and Teddy watched as his big brown eyes disappeared beneath his eyelids as he finally gave in to his exhaustion. Cara's blue eyes met Teddy's grey ones with a serious look, "Something's going on Lupin, the Deatheaters were going crazy out there when they tossed you in."

"I know," he said, "I heard one of them say to hurry and finish me off. I thought they were going to kill me, but another of them said they didn't have time and to leave me until they came back."

Cara stared at him, her face paling in the dim light. "They were going to _kill_ you?"

"Well, yeah Gernet. I wasn't giving them anything, so what use would I be to them?" Teddy chuckled a little, "Hey Gernet, if I die, what would you want? I don't exactly have anything of material value with me, but-"

"Don't." Cara snapped at him, "_Don't_ joke about that. Don't you ever let me hear you joke about dying again. You have _no_ idea of how angry I was at myself when all I could do was listen to them torture you like that. I couldn't do _anything_, and if you had died... if you had died..." the words seemed to choke up in Cara's throat at the thought of _actually_ losing Teddy finally seemed to catch up to her.

"Alright Gernet, I won't joke about it. I was just trying to lighten the atmosphere."

"I know, sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for." Cara nodded her head again, before laying Adam on the ground beside Teddy and taking the cloak she still had on off. Careful so not to wake Adam up, she draped her cloak over them both, as some means of warmth. "Gernet, what are you doing? You'll freeze."

"Shut up and sleep Lupin, I'll be fine. If I get cold I can just move around. You and Adam need to rest."

Teddy raised an eyebrow at her, "And when was the last time _you_ were asleep again?"

"_Goodnight_ Lupin."

"... Night Gernet."

Cara watched him quickly drift off, tucking them both under her cloak better before she resorted to sitting and watching over them. It _had_ been a while since she had last slept, but for some reason she couldn't find it in her to sleep. Maybe it was the anger she was feeling, almost homicidal at those _monster_ Deatheaters. Or maybe the worry was keeping her up, worry that she would never see beyond this cell, and that they would never be found, forced to live out the rest of their lives in here. But maybe more than anything it was the fear that kept her awake, a fear that all the risks she and Teddy had taken, all the work they had done, and the expectations they had had to fulfil, and finding that they had failed. Could this mission have failed before it had really begun?

If there was anything for her to smile at right now, it was the two sleeping bodies in front of her. _If it's the last thing I do, they _will_ get out of here._


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Cara sat watching over the boys all night, shivering slightly every now and then. Not that she'd admit it though. A little cold never hurt anybody. It was the waiting that was killing her, punctuated only by a loud noise every now and again. Not knowing was also killing her. _What is going on out there?_ None of the Deatheaters had been back for any of them, and after Teddy's torture session Cara had expected for them to have a go at her too. _Something isn't right here..._

"Cara?"

She shuffled closer to the huddled pair, smiling at the sight of a pair of big brown eyes blinking up at her. Adam was curled up against Teddy's side, and in his sleep Teddy had wrapped an arm around Adam, one of his arms acting as a cushion. Cara couldn't help smiling a little at the sight, it wasn't everyday that you saw the 'ever cool' Teddy acting as a child's pillow. She softly brushed Adam's hair from his face, "I'm right here Adam, you okay?"

"Mhm," he mumbled, snuggling against Teddy again.

"Go back to sleep."

"I'm not tired."

Cara raised an eyebrow at the boy, already snoring lightly again. Leaning over him, she gently kissed his cheek before tucking Adam properly under her cloak. Sitting back on her heels, Cara jumped at the sound of chuckle. "Aww, Gernet's secretly maternal."

"I am _not_ Lupin," she snapped back at him. "Merlin, you're such a child!"

"And wouldn't you like it if I was; another little kid to mother." Teddy smirked at the glare Cara was sending him. "I meant it as a compliment you know, it's reassuring to know that even the ice queen of Hogwarts has a soft side."

"I am _not_ an ice queen! I was simply more mature than you and wasn't willing to put up with your immature attitude."

"Sure... and _that's_ why we had so many prank wars."

Cara gritted her teeth, "... Technicalities. I was proving a point to you."

"About what? How best to beat you? Which buttons to push to make rile you?"

"I was showing you how immature you were through example." Cara said, crossing her arms. "And you never beat me. _And_ you wouldn't know which buttons of mine to push, even if you had a map and tour guide."

Teddy raised his eyebrows at her, as an almost predatory smile spread across his lips. _At least he seems to be feeling better_, Cara thought to herself, _enough to argue anyway_. "Is that a challenge Gernet?"

"What?"

"Do you _want_ me to push your buttons? Set you lose? Make you _really_ mad? You know I love to make you mad."

Teddy wasn't moving from where he lay, but Cara backed up from him anyway. _What is he doing? Is he _flirting_ with me?_ Cara decided that perhaps Teddy wasn't as well as he seemed, because he would most definitely not be flirting with her if he was back to normal.

"That fire in your eyes... they looked so beautiful."

_Yep, definitely still not completely back to normal_. "Go back to sleep Lupin, you don't know what you're talking about anymore."

"I know what I'm talking about. I know you better than anyone else in the whole wide world."

"Yeah, right..." Cara watched him return to the land of Nod, a silly smile still on his face. She rolled her eyes at Teddy, but diligently tucked him under her cloak too. It was only fair really. Again though the silence returned to surround her, and every second felt like an eternity. But all she could do was wait. Wait in the cold, dark, quiet cell. At least until something happened. Eventually, after what felt like days but was really only an hour at most – the sun was just beginning to reach through the cell's only window – there were several particularly loud crashing noises growing steadily closer to their cell, and even Teddy and Adam were woken up.

Wide-eyed and frightened, Adam clung on to the nearest thing to him, Teddy, and buried his face in his shoulder. Teddy stood, keeping a hold of Adam as he moved as far away from the door as possible in the small room, dragging Cara back to stand with him. Both defenceless and clueless as to what was happening, Cara and Teddy could only wait and see what happened.

The crashing noise stopped, but was replaced by the door groaning, as though being forced open.

An echoing _BANG!_ went off as the door finally gave way to whatever was opening it. Cara and Teddy shut their eyes, shielding Adam from the door and whatever may be coming through. _Please not You-Know-Who..._

"Cara!"

"Teddy!"

The familiar voices calling them made their eyes open, and there stood in the doorway was the Order, a little worn and worried looking but otherwise fine, and at the very front were stood the last two loyal Marauders, relieved expressions on their faces. Cara ran to them, straight into Sirius' arms where she was hugged so tight she almost couldn't breathe. She hugged him just as tightly, resisting when he started to pull away from her. "Calm love, the hugs and kisses will have to wait. Let's get you and loverboy out of here first." Cara nodded to him, ignoring the new nickname he had for Teddy, and turned to find Teddy in a hug of his own, Remus with his arms wrapped around Teddy and Adam both. At the sight of the little boy, Sirius raised an eyebrow at Cara. "You two work fast."

She punched his arm, but he only chuckled.

"Alright, let's get out of here."

Remus tossed them both their wands, before the group ran. Sirius kept a hold of Cara's arm all the way, half dragging her in his efforts of leaving sooner. Cara noticed that the number of blast burns, ruins and general destruction escalated the further from the cells that they went. Glancing at Sirius, she sent him a smirk, "_What_ exactly did you do to get in here?" Sirius just grinned back. "You know, that just makes me more worried."

"Don't worry love, you're safe... as long as we get out of this bloody building in the next two minutes; Moony and I left a little _surprise_ for them."

She shook her head at him, but the smile didn't leave her face. On her other side, having heard Sirius too, Teddy looked up at Remus in surprise. "What?" Remus asked with a shrug of his shoulders, "I was bored."

"You did something _Sirius_ would do though." Teddy said.

Remus sent a cheeky grin back, "You have to realise that I wasn't always the serious one of the Marauders. The best plans were often mine."

"Hey! I had great ideas too!"

"Great ideas that got us caught, I on the other hand managed to pull them off without us getting caught."

Cara caught Adam's eye from beneath the bickering Marauders, _So that's where Lupin got his pranking side from_.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley had fussed over the three of them like never before it seemed, but focused most of her attention on the boys to Cara's relief. Teddy in particular, since Cara told them of his session with the Deatheaters. Sufficed to say he had yet to stop glaring at her. She just smiled and waved, returning to distracting Adam as Mme Pompfrey checked his condition. Looking at the Matron, Cara frowned in worry at the shock on Mme Pompfrey's face. "Is everything okay?"

This caught the attention of everyone in the room.

Cara hugged Adam tighter to her when her question wasn't answered immediately. "Is something wrong? Is he okay? What is it?"

Mme Pompfrey sighed before she spoke, the whole room's ears fixated on her to different degrees of subtlety. "He's fine, _generally,_ but there is something. It's not something I can exactly fix though."

"What is it?" Cara received no answer, but Mme Pompfrey simply lifted Adam's t-shirt again and pointed to a mark on his side, hidden amongst a myriad of other scars. Peering closer, Cara's eyes widened at what she saw, recognising the mark instantly. "Is that..."

"Yes."

Adam, understanding what Cara now knew, started to shuffle away from her. But Cara picked him up and held him to her anyway, easily stronger than the little boy. "Well, so what? It's not his fault."

"I know-"

"It doesn't matter anyway, Adam's a good person. There's nothing wrong with him."

"I know-"

"It's just who he is, and I intend to help him anyway I can."

Mme Pompfrey raised an eyebrow at this statement. "And how do you intend to do that?"

Cara glared up at her defiantly. "Don't think this is the first werewolf I've helped." She turned from the Matron, and found the whole room staring at her. She raised her chin and walked swiftly from the living room, heading for the kitchen. Once there she sat Adam at the table beside her, and, with her newly-returned wand, whipped up a glass of pumpkin juice for them both. Cara began to sip at her drink, but Adam just held his glass in his hands. A worn expression took over his face, and he stayed quiet. In the short time Cara had known him Adam had never struck her as the loud type of boy. But this was a whole new level of quiet. "What's wrong Adam?"

"... I'm bad, aren't I?"

"No, never. What happened to you is bad, but _you_ are not bad."

Adam shook his head at her, "But I'm a monster-"

This time Cara shook her head at him. "You aren't a monster. You can't help what you are now, but I'll help you."

"No!" Adam cried, "You can't! You could get hurt."

"I promise you Adam, no one is going to hurt either of us, especially not you."

"You... You really don't mind?" Cara shook her head. "Why did those people there-"

"They are the bad ones Adam, that's why they didn't like you; because bad people never like good people." Silence once again fell over the pair, but the tension was put at rest with the small smile Adam had on his face now. Cara stuck her tongue out at him, making him laugh and breaking the silence. She pulled his chair closer to her and wrapped an arm around him, squeezing him slightly. "We'll find your parents, and everything will be good again."

"You won't find them."

Cara shook her head, "You don't know that; they could just be-"

"They're dead." Adam said bluntly, a blank expression on his face. "The bad people had already made me like _this_, but mummy and daddy said they didn't mind. They told me to hide upstairs when some people came back to the house. They weren't screaming long downstairs. And then those bad people took me with them." He turned his wide eyes back up at Cara, "You won't leave me too, will you?"

Cara stayed quiet for a little while, considering her answer. Soon enough, after saving Sirius, she and Teddy would be skipping through time again. There was no guarantee that she could, or even would be allowed to take Adam with her, much less the ricocheting effects that might occur by removing Adam from his natural timeline. "I can't promise that, but I'll stay for as long as I can. That I can promise."

Adam seemed a little happier, but also a little sadder. Eventually he nodded his head and snuggled closer to Cara, wrapping both arms around her. They sat, in silence again, but content to do so anyway. Another warm arm wrapping itself around Adam's shoulders startled them both momentarily, until they saw it was only Teddy. The three sat in relaxed silence, or at least until Teddy reached over and plucked Cara's juice from her glass and downed the rest of her pumpkin juice. This in turn made her slap the back of his head, and a whole new argument broke out, with Adam laughing in between the two of them.

Eventually though Cara couldn't help finally falling asleep, her body slumping against the table. Despite all the arguing only moments before, Teddy smiled at Cara's sleeping form, grabbing Adam from her grasp and proceeding to tickle him into a drooling, giggling mess. His body still ached from the session with the Deatheaters – Mrs. Weasley's mother-henning only slightly more tolerable – but seeing everyone again, _alive_, made the pain worth it. He knew better than some people that pain compared to death could be healed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Cara slumped backwards into the sofa, exhausted beyond belief. Over the past two months since her kidnapped incident with Teddy, and bringing Adam back with them, the Order had seemed to have an endless amount of covert work and investigation to be done. Honestly it felt nice to be trusted and wanted like she was right now, but it was so bloody exhausting. She even had work to do on her _birthday_. Cara felt like she hadn't simply sat down in a millennia. Adam had gained sufficient weight, and was now running about acting his age, having fun with the still confined Sirius, acting Adam's age. Other than Teddy, Cara, Sirius, Remus, Mrs. Weasley and surprisingly Harry, Adam had yet to open up to anyone. Still extremely shy, he seemed to especially love spending time with Sirius and Buckbeak. Cara supposed that it was about time that Sirius had the responsibility – in part at least – of raising a child.

He barely gave a thought to his monthly transformations anymore. What with two of Hogwarts' brightest students in Cara and Teddy, along with the experience of Remus (and the expertise of Snape when he was feeling particularly kind) the Wolfsbane potion ensured that Adam was practically harmless in his wolf form. Even then, Remus kept a careful eye on him during transformations.

At least all this work distracted her mind from other things. Like how depressed she was feeling with Valentine's day spent alone, _again_. Cara had been alone each Valentine's day since that one time with an arse called Chris three years ago, _never again_. Even _Sirius_, confined to the house had come downstairs in the morning with a suspiciously big smile on his face, and Adam had been showered with cards and chocolates from all the female Order members he knew. He was apparently just 'too cute'. It was a little annoying to be beaten by a five year old. Even now he was out with the girls being treated to all the ice cream he could eat.

A sudden weight on her legs made her open her eyes from her rest, and she looked down to see a shock of turquoise on her lap. "Lupin, _what_ are you doing?"

He was faced away from her, but even then she saw he didn't bother opening his eyes. "So... tired..."

"So am I, but you don't see me collapsing on random _people_." Cara looked around the room, and saw four other chairs and sofas that were free. "There are other spaces free, why must you come and invade the one chair _I_ am sat on?"

"Because you're comfy."

Cara rolled her eyes, shoving him off her lap. He just rolled onto the floor, stood up, dusted himself off and lay back down on her lap. Twice more Cara shoved him off of her, before finally letting him stay, too tired to fight him. "Fine, stay there. It's not like I had plans anyway."

"Really? Same." Teddy turned onto his back so he was looking up to the ceiling now, folding his hands on his stomach. "It feels strange... this is the first time in a while."

"Isn't it nice for some then?"

Teddy raised an eyebrow at her, "What? Been having lonely Valentines Gernet?"

"And what if I have?"

"Never figured you as the type." He said, "I mean, you're pretty enough, you aren't bad company I suppose, and you aren't an airhead."

"Oh, _now_ I feel special."

"Weren't you with, what's-his-name, Mark?"

"Fifth year; you pranked him so much he got a stammer and couldn't look at me again."

"Oh yeah, he was annoying. What about Damon?"

"Sixth year; _someone_ saw fit to threaten him with bodily harm if he didn't leave me alone."

"He was a perv, think of it as a favour." Cara just glared down at him. "What about that one guy, the foreign one, erm, Dimitri."

"He had to return to his country for unexplained reasons just before the end of seventh year."

"I didn't like him anyway."

"But I _did_!"

"You were seventeen, no one _really_ likes anyone that much at that age."

"You started dating Victoire in seventh year."

"..."

"Sorry."

"No you're right."

"I had no right to-"

"Why don't we go back to you?" Teddy said, sitting up and spinning around to face Cara on the sofa. "How's your love-life been after Hogwarts?"

"Guys just don't seem to stick. I'd be lucky to stay dating the same guy for a month."

"It can't have been worse than mine." Cara scoffed. "Really. You try loving someone for years, only for their answer to you proposing that 'we need a break'."

Cara was silent for a few minutes, scolding herself mentally for pushing the topic. "She really did that?"

"Yeah... I did the whole thing too; roses, champagne, moonlit walk, diamond ring... damn nearly went bankrupt proposing to her!"

"If that had happened for me, I'd have-"

"Yes?"

Cara froze, flushing slightly at her words. "Nothing."

"No," Teddy said, leaning closer to her, eyes trained on her reddening face, "Tell me what you'd do." Cara's mouth and lips were suddenly dry, so she gulped and licked her lips. She felt unusually nervous under Teddy's stare, his eyes watching her every move. Teddy moved closer still, making Cara freeze completely. "Answer me one thing Gernet," he whispered into her ear, making a shiver run up her spine, "Do you like me?"

Cara frowned, "I suppose I can tolerate you more-"

"No... Do you _like_ me?"

Cara remained silent, and Teddy drew back with a smirk on his face. Cara scowled at him, "Do you?" Teddy's smirk only grew. He leant towards her again, but this time Cara backed away a little. She stopped when she felt his hand on her cheek, now feeling more confused than ever. "What are you doing?-"

"Shh..."

Cara quietened down, smiling slightly as Teddy gently brushed his fingertips across her cheek. She blinked only to find Teddy's face impossibly close to her own, and only growing closer. She had all but stopped breathing when she felt lips on her own. She didn't move, more surprised than anything else. But when Teddy didn't pull away, Cara decided that this was real. So she pressed back, closing her eyes and pushing her lips harder against Teddy's. His hand slid down her cheek to rest at the back of her neck, tilting Cara's head slightly and pulling her closer. Cara couldn't help grinning into their kiss, she was kissing _the_ Teddy Remus Lupin, her rival, her best friend and her secret crush since she was fifteen.

In Hogwarts Teddy had never had an army of girls after him, but he had a good crowd of fans. He even dated a few of them, but they never seemed to last. Other than the Weasley girls, Cara doubted Teddy had ever spent that much time with a girl other than herself. Cara had thought that maybe she would have a chance with him eventually, but ever since the first rumours of Teddy having a crush on the beautiful Victoire in sixth year spread, Cara knew that she had no chance. That idea was only reaffirmed when Teddy and Victoire actually began dating.

And yet, here she was kissing him, and him kissing her back.

The thought made Cara reach up and wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him tighter to her. Teddy smirked when he felt her fingers dig into his shoulders at every nip he took of her lips. Cara was just relaxing fully into the kiss when Teddy abruptly pulled away, jumping off the sofa and practically running from the room. Cara's hands gripped thin air as she stared shocked at the empty space Teddy had been in only seconds ago. Angry tears eventually pooled in her eyes, and she threw herself back into the sofa, screaming into one of the pillows.

_Of course he would run away_, she thought to herself. Still, she felt hurt that he had actually decided to _run away_ from her. _I'm not that bad am I?_ _Maybe the being friends thing was the thing that got to him?_ No, hardly anything had changed when they had become friends, why should things change now?

Cara was still screaming into the pillow when it was pulled away, and she was left staring at a familiar grinning face. "_What_?"

"I had to clear my head. I don't want to be involved with you if I still have feelings for Victoire, I had to clear my head and make sure of what I wanted."

Cara blinked up at him, "And what do you want?"

"You." Teddy said, leaning over her and planting kisses on her face. "I want you."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes I'm sure Gernet, now shut up and let me kiss you."

Cara grinned, pulling Teddy down on top of her on the sofa. Their lips met again, and this time no one ran away. Cara ran her hands through Teddy's hair, finding the sensation interesting, as his hair changed length and colour every few seconds depending on the fluctuations in his emotions. He never had the best control over his metamorpisis when he was emotional. He pressed Cara deeper into the sofa, his hands running up and down her sides, eventually resting on her hips. The kiss grew deeper and more passionate as time passed, both oblivious to their surroundings.

"Look at them Sirius, they're worse than you are."

"Hey now, I can be _much_ worse."

"Hmm, and don't I know it."

Cara and Teddy broke apart, peering over the back of the sofa to see Sirius grinning at them from the doorway, a pretty blonde woman beside him. Cara's eyes bugged out at the sight of the woman, "Aunt- I mean Lissa?"

The woman cocked her head to one side as she looked at Cara, "Do I know you?"

Teddy sent a withering look to Cara, making her flush. "No, sorry, you just looked like someone I know."

"Oh, what a strange coincidence that I am called Lissa too." She then turned to Sirius, "Where were we?"

Sirius wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her out of the living room, "Heading back to the bedroom love."

Cara couldn't help the twitch at hearing that last comment, making Teddy chuckle. "What is it Gernet? Not comfortable with the image of your aunt having se-"

"Don't say it!" Cara cried, covering her ears with her hands, "It makes it real!"

Teddy just placed a kiss to her temple, pulling her into his side. "You're cute sometimes, you know that?"

**AN: filler, I know, but it's necessary. Thanks for reading ;P**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 11

Aunt Lissa became a familiar sight for Cara after Valentine's Day, especially around Sirius. They were very private as to exactly what type of relationship they had, but Cara figured they were more than friends but not complete lovers. Adam seemed to like her enough to 'share' Sirius with her. There had been the initial tense standoff from Adam when Sirius first introduced her, but after Lissa handed him some chocolate, they were practically best friends.

Cara had never been happier. Why?

She finally had Teddy.

They had been practically joined at the hip since they started dating four months ago. Not to say they were no arguments, or that they were the perfect couple. But that seemed to be part of their relationship that had and always would be present for them. The time between their arguments was blissful paradise, and the arguments themselves were equally exhilarating and passionate, although stressful.

Cara loved every minute of it though, because it was all worth it to her.

But that was non-mission related.

Today was crunch time.

June 17th 1996.

Tonight, or early tomorrow morning, if Teddy and Cara weren't successful in their mission, Sirius Black would die.

Teddy and Cara had several plans on what to do, trying to stay flexible for anything that might interfere with their plan; a.k.a. Deatheaters. To their luck, no one – other than Dumbledore – knew anything _particularly_ bad was going to happen. Harry had of course been having increasingly worsening nightmares, but they hadn't given any indication of Sirius being hurt yet.

_Yet_.

"Lupin, what if this all goes horribly wrong?" Cara whispered, curled up in Teddy's lap in his room. "Our luck until now has been almost _too_ good, don't you think?"

"Nah, it'll all be fine Gernet, you'll see; you have _me_ on your side."

Cara rolled her eyes at him, "Deflate that head of yours Lupin, I can't see anything else."

"And why would you want to see anything else?" Teddy leant towards her, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Everything will go fine, we have all _five_ plans of yours. And if the worst comes to it, then we'll just have to go with it."

"I know... but I don't want to lose him, it's _Sirius_." Cara hugged Teddy tighter to her. "Just yesterday he was saying that he was thinking of to settling down. If we fail, then he'll never have the chance to-"

"Shh... I _promise_, nothing will go wrong. Now, all we have to do is wait for Sirius to find out about Harry going to the Ministry, and we'll go with him. You need to stay calm."

"But my nerves won't let me."

Cara's hands were fidgeting in her lap, one second clutched tightly in a fist, the next rubbing circles on Teddy, only to return to a fist. The waiting was killing her. Deciding a distraction was needed, Teddy moved her head to face him and drew her lips to his. It was a method he had used time and time again over the past few months to distract Cara when she was particularly cross with him, and now seemed as good a time as any to distract her, as well as himself. While outwardly appearing calm for Cara, inside Teddy was experiencing each and every one of her fears as well, with a few added ones. Up until now, they hadn't done much for their _actual_ initial mission. This was the actual mission. And if they failed, they failed the future as well as themselves.

Another question pierced through Teddy's mind.

_What if they failed next time, with his parents?_

Forcing his mind to clear, he returned and focused on the kiss. He held Cara closer to his chest, smiling a little to himself when he felt her hands in his hair again. She seemed to love his hair, and Teddy had decided not to tell her that he had more control over his metamorphosis than he let on, and that he purposefully changed his hair since he knew she loved it. Turquoise was the most frequented colour, but he flickered through the rainbow easily. Besides, it felt nice when she ran her fingers through his hair, especially when she got particularly into a kiss, and started tugging on his hair.

Teddy ran his hand down Cara's thigh and around her knee, only barely touching her and leaving goose bumps behind, before sliding his fingers back up. A quick pinch made her mouth open in a gasp, and Teddy took advantage of the opportunity by pushing his tongue past her lips, entwining with her own tongue as he pushed her backwards onto the bed. Now lying on top of her, he rested his weight on his elbows so not to crush her, which Cara found a little frustrating. She loved feeling him fully on top of her, chest against chest and hips on hips. But since her mouth was occupied from speaking, she simply knocked his elbows out, making him fall onto her. And to make sure he didn't 'escape', she wrapped her legs around his hips, hooking her ankles to lock his body to hers.

Teddy wasn't complaining.

Cara had just let Teddy's hands start to creep up her shirt when the bedroom door was flung open.

A frazzled Sirius was stood, coat half on and hair a mess in the doorway, double-taking at the sight that met him. Deciding to save the blackmail for another time, he pulled Teddy off of Cara. "Wands! Get your wands, Harry's in danger!" he shouted at them before leaving the room and continuing his shouting at anyone else around in Headquarters.

Cara locked eyes with Teddy, who just planted a kiss on her forehead. "We'll be fine."

"If we die tonight I wanted to tell you that I-"

"We'll be fine, tell me whatever you want tomorrow."

Cara opened her mouth again to speak, but decided to do as Teddy said, nodding her head and letting him help her off the bed. They hurriedly grabbed their cloaks and wands and rushed downstairs, just in time to see the rest of the group Sirius had managed to round up. Sirius, Cara saw, was saying goodbye to a teary Lissa with Adam in her arms.

He kissed both their foreheads, ruffling Adam's hair as well. "Let me go with you Sirius, I can fight too!"

Sirius shook his head, "Lissa love, I'd much prefer it if you stayed here. Safe. Besides, Adam needs someone to look after him."

"But you're not going to be safe, do you think I like this any better?"

"I have to, this is for Harry. But you don't have to, and I don't want to risk you getting hurt. Please stay, for me?"

Lissa slowly nodded her head, wiping at her wet cheeks in a futile attempt at drying them, as her eyes were still spilling over with her tears. Sirius leant forwards and pressed his lips lightly to hers, before pulling back and softly stroking her cheek. "You had better come back Sirius, or I swear I will find you and kill you myself in revenge."

Sirius chuckled, "I'll hold you to it love." He planted another kiss to her lips and a last kiss on Adam's head too. "Take care of Lissa for me, will you sport?"

Adam, not entirely sure what was going on, but determined to help either way, nodded his little head, a serious expression on his face. "I promise Sirius."

"Atta boy, I'll be back before you know it." Sirius sent Lissa one last look, before turning his gaze to the rest of the group, the white smoke of his Apparating already swirling around him. "Let's go!"

The instant the white smoke from them Apparating cleared, Teddy and Cara, along with all the Auror members, was battling it out with the Deatheaters. Cara tried to stick with Teddy as much as possible, but eventually she was split up from him. Trying to keep one eye trained on Sirius without getting themselves killed, Teddy and Cara attempted to maintain a perimeter around him, especially wary of Bellatrix. Finishing off the Deatheaters he was facing, Teddy spotted Cara backed up against the wall duelling hard against two Deatheaters, and hurried over to help her. He shot them both in the back with a stunning and binding spell, not the most sportsmanlike, but hell, the Deatheaters fought dirty anyway.

"I was handling them _fine_, Lupin."

Teddy rolled his eyes at her, "I know, but I was just trying to help." Cara grudgingly nodded her head in thanks, before spotting Bellatrix with her arm raised and poised to send a hex of some sort. From Harry's description of the moment, Bellatrix was about to send _the_ spell that would knock Sirius back through the Veil. Snapping her head, she saw Sirius was indeed stood in front of the Veil, dead centre, and about to be hit. Cara started running towards him, Teddy running automatically beside her. "Which plan are you going with?"

"No plan."

"What?" Teddy and Cara froze suddenly though at the sound of Harry's anguished cry, and both saw Sirius through the Veil, standing in shock. Cara stared in disbelief, _there has to be something that we can do. We couldn't have been sent all the way back here just to fail now_. Thinking quickly, Cara came to one stupid, _completely_ insane plan, with a slim chance of success, but success nonetheless if it worked. Turning to Teddy she hugged him tightly to her, burying her head in his chest. _Please work_. She slipped something into his hand, and Teddy looked down at her in confusion. "Gernet?-"

"Don't let go of this."

"Why-" Cara ignored his question, pulling his head down for a quick kiss, before she turned without another word and ran straight for the Veil and the disappearing image of Sirius. Teddy looked down at his hand and saw a chain, which his eyes followed to Cara's wrist. His eyes widened as realisation dawned upon him, and fear gripped his chest in a tangible squeeze, "Cara, no!" Cara jumped straight through the Veil to the entire room's astonishment, disappearing from sight as quickly as Sirius had.

Moments passed, and when nothing happened, Harry broke free of Remus' hold on him and ran out of the room after Bellatrix, intent on revenge. Teddy however could not bring himself to look away from the misty shrouded archway, eyes fixed on the length of chain that was steadily disappearing into the misted mystery. Eventually all the slack chain went taut, and Teddy's hand held tighter to it.

"Come on Gernet, what's taking you?"

More minutes passed, and Teddy felt a hand drop onto his shoulder. Looking to his right, he saw Remus looking sadly down at him. "She's not coming back Teddy."

"No, she is. Gernet wouldn't go down like this, she's coming back. Just wait."

"Teddy, we don't know what's past there-"

"So she could be perfectly _fine_."

Remus sighed at Teddy, placing his hand on Teddy's wrist, "Let go of the chain Teddy, she isn't coming back. Don't let your hope blind you."

"Don't let _fear_ blind _you_, Gernet _is_ coming back to me!"

"Teddy-"

Remus was cut off though when both men felt two sharp tugs from the chain. They shared a quick look before both quickly pulled the rope, other Order members joining them once they noticed the action. Teddy didn't even dare to blink as he stared at the Veil, and was the first to make out a clump of paler mist amongst the grey of the Veil itself. Newfound hope charged through him, and he pulled on the rope faster still, until everyone saw one pale hand slip back through the Veil, the chain attached to its wrist.

And then an arm.

And then a head.

And then Cara's upper half was entirely out of the Veil, and her free hand gripping the front of Sirius' robes.

When both of them were completely free from the Veil, Teddy dropped the chain and ran to them, falling to his knees between the two shivering bodies. Remus having followed him, quickly turned Sirius onto his back and saw he was still breathing, if unconscious, but _alive_. Letting him attend to Sirius, Teddy turned to Cara, gently turning her into his arms to see her also unconscious, but deathly cold to the touch. Lightly patting her cheek, Teddy grinned down at her as he spotted slithers of her blue eyes peering underneath her eyelids. "Hey Gernet, how's the afterlife?"

"D-Dark."

"That's not so bad."

"It's too b-bloody c-c-cold."

Teddy chuckled at her, casting a warming spell on Cara and pulling her closer to him. "You scared me Gernet."

"I s-scared a G-G-Gryffindor?"

"Yeah, do you feel proud now?"

"A l-little." Cara said with a shaky grin, before burying her face in Teddy's chest again, pulling herself tighter to his warm body. The warming spell was working, but at too slow a rate for Cara, especially when she knew there was a warm body right beside her for her to leech heat off of. Teddy pulled her fully into his lap, wrapping as much of her as possible in his arms. He felt too relieved to have her back in his arms to care that he was growing half numb from the cold of Cara's body. He pressed kisses across her cheeks, her nose, her forehead and her lips, anywhere he could reach. Cara was enjoying it, his warm lips feeling so blissful against her icy skin. "Love you."

Teddy's lips didn't even pause in his trails of kisses over her face, instead simple taking Cara's lips into a short but deep kiss before moving to rest by her ear. His warm breaths against her ear made Cara shiver, but not from the cold. "Is that what you wanted to tell me before?" Cara nodded her head, smiling when she felt him continue his trail of kisses down the side of her face. "Love you." He rested his cheek on top of her head, squeezing her slightly, and smiling to himself when he felt Cara's arms wrap around him. They silently enjoyed the small moment together, until familiar voices interrupted them.

"P-Please Moony, d-d-don't tell her-"

"Padfoot, do you really think Lissa isn't going to notice anything wrong with you?"

"B-But sh-she'll kill me! Sh-She really w-will this time t-too!"

"Oh shut up already Sirius."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

**AN: No **_**actual**_** lemon, but a hint towards one in this chapter. The sexual tension got to me ;P**

* * *

Chapter 12

Cara lay in Teddy's arms in bed together, Teddy rubbing her arms to warm them. She slapped at his hands, but he continued anyway. "Stop it Lupin, I'm warm already. In fact I'm boiling now."

"Mme Pompfrey said though-"

"That was _hours_ ago! The fire in the room is lit, we've already been through three warming spells, I'm wearing triple layers, we're under four blankets, and you're wrapped around me. I don't think I could get any warmer if I wanted to. I mean, you're hot too aren't you? It's not just me, is it?"

Teddy sighed, running his hand down her arm to meet her own hand, interlocking their fingers together. He leant forward and placed a kiss on Cara's neck, "I'm just worried. I thought I lost you for a while back there." Cara grinned to herself, shuffling over to face him and meeting his lips in a small kiss. He held her head close to him, deepening the kiss a little, before pulling away. They grinned at each other, before Teddy planted a kiss to her forehead and pulled her closer to him. "I thought _I_ was the one who was supposed to be the reckless, act-before-I-think member of the team."

"What can I say?" Cara said, "You're a bad influence on me."

"It's the Marauder in me." Cara shook her head at him, before pulling out of Teddy's embrace and hopping out of bed. Teddy sat up, a confused look on his face, "What are you doing?"

"What do you think idiot?" Cara huffed as she shimmied out of a set of sweatpants. Her hands flew to the hoodie she had been forced into next, "I'm bloody boiling, and I refuse to spend another minute under all these unnecessary layers. I'm going crazy in all this heat!" She had pulled the hoodie off, leaving her in a long-sleeved shirt and leggings. Deciding she was still too hot, Cara rolled the leggings off her leaving her in her boyshorts, and she sighed in relief when her bare legs were hit with relatively cool air. She began tugging furiously at the long sleeves on her arms, pulling the top off only for her head to get stuck in the process. Too hot to feel embarrassed, she channelled her anger and was considering simply tearing the top apart. Larger hands stopped her, and Cara remembered that she wasn't the only one in the room.

The extra hands gently pulled Cara free of the top, and she found herself staring up into dark silver eyes. A smirk slowly spread across Teddy's face as he took in Cara's reddening face. Brushing a hand lightly down her bare arm, he smugly noticed the shiver that passed through her body. "You could have just told me if you wanted to give me a strip tease Gernet."

"I was _not_ giving you a strip tease! I forgot you were here."

"I have to get an invisibility cloak."

"Perv!" Cara cried, before crossing her arms over her chest. All she was wearing right now were her boyshorts, bra and a vest top. She was feeling a little cooler at least. "As if you could do any better anyway."

Teddy raised an eyebrow, before grabbing Cara and pushing her to sit on the bed. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, but he simply pecked her lips to stop her. Stepping back, he stood where she could see him fully, and pulled on the edge of his t-shirt. Slowly lifting it and raising his arms as he pulled the top off. Cara hated to admit it, but she was finding it difficult looking away from his torso, especially his abs. She had a thing for abs. Abs and biceps. Both of which Teddy had. Teddy smirked as he tossed the t-shirt at her, letting it land on her head. She scowled at him from beneath the piece of clothing, ripping it off her head and throwing it over her shoulder onto the bed.

Teddy smirked at how flustered she was looking already.

And then he reached for his zipper-

"Okay!" Cara cried, "You can strip tease. You've made your point, now, now, now you can stop."

Teddy grinned, stepping towards her and making her lean back a little. "Am I making you nervous?"

"N-No!"

"Good," he said, bending down and nuzzling her neck. He placed a kiss on Cara's neck, "I hope you don't mind, but after today's little stunt, I feel like I have to take every minute that I can with you. I'm not wasting another second."

Cara smiled a little at his words, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his torso in a hug. "Lupin, I'm not going anywhere, but I'm not complaining either." He pushed on her lightly, pushing her back onto the bed with him on top. Teddy's hands began to wander up her sides, and he pressed his lips along her collarbone. "Lupin, the door-" he waved his hand towards the door, and the sound of the lock clicking in place was heard. Satisfied, Cara pulled his head up to hers, pulling him down into a quick kiss. "There's one thing you should know about me by now Lupin."

Teddy looked down at her, "And what's that?"

With a quick twist of her hips, Cara had rolled the pair of them so she was now straddling Teddy on his stomach. "_I'm_ on top."

Teddy growled at her, flipping them back over. "I think you're mistaken Gernet, it looks like _I'm_ on top."

Cara narrowed her eyes up at him. She couldn't hide her smile though, "Is that a challenge?"

"You know I love a challenge."

Cara flipped them over them again, pinning Teddy's arms down. "Just remember all those times in Hogwarts when I won."

"You never won."

"I did too!"

"Prove it." Cara leant down to kiss Teddy, but he used her momentary shift of her centre of gravity and knocked her back onto the bed beneath him. She growled up at him, but was silence with his lips. It was the beginning of a _long_ night, with two stubborn people not eager to back down.

Cara gulped in lungfuls of air as she lay on her back staring at the ceiling, thoroughly satiated, exhausted and hot in a completely different way. Looking to her left, she saw an equally blissful expression on Teddy's face as he stared down at her. His smile turned devilish and he rolled over on top of Cara, resting his head on her chest and pressing his ear above her heart. Cara ran a hand through his hair, watching it morph through at least seven different styles. She placed a kiss on his head, throwing a leg around him from beneath the covers.

"Well Gernet? Who was right?"

"We both were you idiot, or did I screw with your memory too?"

Teddy rolled his eyes, "No, I remember."

Cara wrapped her arms around him. "I really do love you, you know?"

"I know, I love you too." Turning over, Teddy pulled Cara with him so she was still flush against him, although this time she was on top of him. They lay chest to chest, nose to nose, and both shared a smile with each other. Cara leant down and stifled a yawn with a hand. Teddy smirked, "Did I tire you out?"

Cara snorted, "Maybe you bored me."

"Impossible."

"I suppose." Cara lay her head on Teddy's shoulder, snuggling up in the crook of his neck and closing her eyes. "Goodnight."

"Night love, sweet dreams of me." Cara shook her head, but smiled anyway. She was asleep soon enough, and Teddy was watching her when he noticed the first rays of light drifting through gaps in the curtains. The fire had gone out long ago, and Teddy simply laid back and enjoyed watching Cara in the soft sunlight, completely relaxed on top of him. "Love you."

* * *

Cara held tightly to Teddy's hand as they stood in front of everyone in the living room. It was time for goodbyes. Cara released Teddy's hand as she bent down to scoop Adam into her arms, hugging him tightly as she promised him that he'd see her soon. She knew he'd be fine, as Sirius had told her in private that he was in the process of adopting Adam with Lissa, as soon as his name was cleared completely. He and Lissa were hugged next, and Sirius had even lifted her off the ground in his hug. "You stay safe love; you're one of the most important women in my life now, other than Lissa of course. I will never be able to thank you for what you've done for me already."

"It was my pleasure Sirius."

When he finally let her go, Cara looked to the Weasleys. She received a warm hug from Mrs Weasley, and a handshake from Mr Weasley, before being group hugged by the children. Even including Ginny to her surprise. Of course, Ginny had yet to dislike her she supposed. Hermione hugged her, wishing her luck with the rest of her mission and dealing with Teddy, making Cara laugh but thank her. She looked to Harry next, pulling him into a gently hug. "Your friends love you Harry, I know you won't let them down." She received an appreciative smile in response, before a tugging at her trouser leg made her turn her attentions back to a crying Adam.

Teddy meanwhile looked to the Weasleys, hugging each and every one of them as well as Harry, in a manly way of course with no tears. He looked down at Harry, still amazed at the teenage version of his godfather. "Be brave Harry, I know you can do it."

He then turned to Tonks, smiling at her grin and pulling her into a tight hug. He hadn't told anyone who his parents were, but if they waited another two years about, everyone would figure it out. Teddy hadn't wanted to ruin the relaxed atmosphere with a bombshell like that. Tonks blinked tears as she looked up at him, grinning her trademark grin. "Kick some Death eater butt Teddy."

"I will Tonks, I promise." Finally he turned to Remus, and he didn't stop the tears pooling in his eyes. He had grown so close to Remus and Tonks in his time here. To leave now... he was pulled into a hug again, which he quickly responded to.

Remus gulped nervously as he hugged tightly to Teddy, half-wishing he didn't have to let go soon. "Stay safe Teddy, a father shouldn't have to bury his child."

Teddy froze, eyes wide. "You-You-but-I, how?"

Remus just chuckled, pulling away from Teddy and looking him straight in the eyes, almost identical to each other. "Well I wasn't sure, but you just confirmed it."

"I'm sorry-"

Remus shook his head at him, "I am proud of you already, and I can't wait to raise you with whoever I end up with." A nervous expression took over his face momentarily, "I make your mother happy, right?"

Teddy beamed up at him, "You love each other very much."

Remus smiled a little, "Good."

As they stepped away from each other, their eyes didn't break their stare. "So... I'll see you soon."

"Yes, see you soon, Teddy."

Teddy smiled softly now, "Bye Dad."

He looked down and pulled Cara back to her feet, Lissa detaching Adam from her arms. Interlocking his fingers with hers again, Teddy held out their joined hands, on which their silver bracelets were strapped onto. With a nod from Dumbledore and McGonagall watching them with teary eyes, together they raised their wands, tapping the bracelets once each while muttering the incantation, "_Tempus Temporis Portus._" As before, their bracelets began to glow and vibrate with magic, and the figures of Teddy and Cara began to shimmer to the astonishment of the crowd before them. Last minute, Cara remembered Dumbledore had yet to return the prophecy to them, but from the twinkling in his eyes, that was exactly what he had intended. _Is it just a loop through time, the prophecy ensuring that it will exist?_ Cara decided to leave that train of thought before she got a headache, and instead focused on Teddy's hand holding hers. _Maybe arriving early wasn't such a bad idea after all_.

And then they vanished.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 13

Cara felt like she was falling again, only to land on something relatively soft. The soft thing let out a huff, before shoving her off of it. When she checked, it was Teddy, and she was a little pleased that she had winded him, _serves him right for pushing me_. After a quick glare down though, Teddy caved, grinning at Cara and helping them both up to their feet. Once they had dusted themselves off, Cara grabbed Teddy's hand in hers again. "Come on Lupin, if we arrived at the correct time this time, then we'd better go."

"Yeah, we don't want to miss on the fight, do we?" Teddy said with a grin, pulling her into himself and leaning down to kiss her.

"What's this for?"

"I just wanted to remember this before all the madness."

Cara locked eyes with him, "Nothing's going to happen to us. We'll save your parents, Harry will defeat Voldemort, and then we'll go back to our time having saved our world. Okay?"

Teddy sighed as he nodded, doubt still on his mind as he pressed his forehead to Cara's. "And what about what happened with Sirius?"

"Yeah, let's not repeat that."

Teddy took another deep breath before pulling away a little, but still with Cara in his arms. "Alright, let's go. _You_, do not leave my sight, got it?" And before she had time to respond, Cara felt the uncomfortable squeeze of being Side-Apparated with Teddy. She'd yell at him later.

When the Apparating smoke had cleared, the pair found themselves on the edge of Hogwarts' grounds, and looking down on a chaotic battlefield. Running down towards them, Teddy and Cara stayed side by side, taking down Death eaters as they went. But their eyes were peeled for any sign of Remus or Tonks. Cara saw them first, and already Bellatrix was descending upon Tonks. Without the time to tell Teddy where she was going, Cara set off to Tonks, and physically barrelled into Bellatrix. _That_ left a stunned expression on the madwoman's face, as well as knocking the wand from her hand.

"Hi Bellatrix," Cara said as she sat on her, "Miss me?"

The only response she got was Bellatrix's enraged scream as she attempted to throw Cara off of her. _I'm going to enjoy this_, Cara thought to herself as she drew her fist back, before quickly releasing a hard punch to Bellatrix's face. Blood dribbled from the Death eater's mouth as she screamed at Cara again.

"What? Can't take a _Muggle_ beating?" Cara continued hitting her with Tonks helping every so often when she wasn't protecting Cara from other attacks, but Bellatrix just wouldn't go down completely. Still, Cara wouldn't stop, "This is for what you did to Professor Longbottom, and Harry, and Adam, and Sirius, and especially for what you did to Teddy! You will never hurt them again, or you will answer to _me_._" _After a particularly hard hit to her nose, Cara was surprised to hear Bellatrix's all too familiar cackle. "What are you laughing at?"

Bellatrix said nothing, but simply continued laughing as she stared around Cara at something. Cara was about to ignore her, when Tonks screamed something that sent a chill up her back. "TEDDY!"

Cara's head whipped around and she was just in time to see Teddy collapsing backwards into Remus' arms, unusually pale and still, his turquoise hair dulling to his natural mousy brown. In front of the pair of Lupins was a Death eater, wand still aimed at them. For a second all Cara could see was Teddy's limp form in his father's arms, and then unbelievable rage took over her whole form. She was not alone either. Tonks, having realised the significance of the time-traveller, was also seeing red, especially when both women saw the Death eater raising his wand again, with Remus unwilling to let go of Teddy to defend himself.

After casting a _Petrificus Totalus_ absentmindedly at Bellatrix, Cara raced towards Teddy, Tonks already having legged it towards them. Tonks was going 'Mama Bear' on the Death eater, who Cara recognised as Antonin Dolohov, and Cara was quick to join her. Between the two of them they had incapacitated, immobilised and humiliated Dolohov. When they were sure he was down, the two of them turned to the men behind them, seeing Remus panicking as he tried to get Teddy to wake up. Cara dropped to her knees by his side, shaking his shoulders and shouting his name.

He still had a pulse, but it was weak and he wasn't responding.

He didn't even _move_.

"Lupin, wake up! I didn't give you permission to sleep, wake _up!_"

"Cara," she ignored Remus, still shaking at Teddy's limp form. "Cara, you have to get him out of here. It's not safe, and we don't have time to get him to Poppy." Cara looked up at Remus, blinking back angry tears. _Well, we have completed the mission, Remus and Tonks are safe. But would it be negligence to leave now when the battle wasn't over and they could get killed later on?_ "We don't have time to argue, go!"

Cara nodded, pulling Teddy to her as she held out the wrist with her silver bracelet. She clutched tighter to Teddy, determined not to drop him on the trip through time. "_Tempus Temporis Portus._" She said, and that familiar glow surrounded her, and soon Remus and Tonks were staring at an empty space, hoping their much older son was safer now.

* * *

Cara grunted in pain as she felt the hard ground connect with her shoulder and hip, rolling over onto her back in pain. Her eyes snapped open though when she felt something, or someone, missing from her grasp. Sitting up, she only took a second to spot Teddy lying on the floor beside her, as still and pale as he had been before. Cara rushed to his side, grabbing him tightly and Apparating quickly to the Order Headquarters in Grimmauld Place. The moment she landed, she was crying out for help.

Thundering feet were her answer, and soon the large living room was crowded with people, mostly redheaded and all eager to greet the time-travellers, only for them to see a very distressed looking Cara cradling the still form of Teddy in her arms. The first to break the stunned stupor was Ginny, as she raced to the two of them, snatching Teddy from Cara's grasp. "What happened to him? What did you do to him?"

Cara shook her head, "Nothing! I didn't-"

"Ginny, let's get Mme Pompfrey in to see to Teddy," Harry said laying a hand on Ginny's shoulder. "In the mean time, I'll call Remus and Tonks. Maybe you should get Sirius back too."

Ginny hesitated, but eventually nodded to Harry. She watched as he and Ron carried Teddy's still limp form from the room. Once he had left the room, Ginny turned and glared at Cara, hard enough to make Cara flinch. "If I find out you had anything to do with this, you will pay for it," was all she said before swiftly leaving the room after Teddy. Cara fell back onto her ankles, alone now in the room except for Hermione. She flinched when she noticed Hermione approaching her, expecting another scolding, only to find herself being wrapped in a timid but comforting hug.

"He'll be fine Cara."

Every fear Cara had been harbouring now seemed to be unleashed, and she began to cry. "You don't know that."

Hermione just rocked the now sobbing woman, whispering soothingly to her. Teddy and Cara had left in August, and it was now May. The day after they had left through time, Sirius, Remus and Tonks seemingly just suddenly appeared, along with foreign new memories since after the final battle to the present, now with the resurrected heroes as part of the memories. Over the next ten months, at night Hermione noticed, new memories arose of her fifth year, and the appearance of two new Order members into her adventures. Every day, everyone felt a little bit more comforted having dreamt of their Teddy, and that little bit more familiar with Cara. It was strange sometimes, remembering the same time period in two different ways. Not painful at least, and Harry had been more than overjoyed with the return of his godfather at the very least.

Ever since the pair had left, Hermione had concluded that they would return at around this month. If those in the present were gaining memories day by day associated with Teddy and Cara, then it seemed that it was linked with whatever date the time-travellers were living through. It was only logical for them to return at the end of their mission, which would have been in May after the final Battle at Hogwarts.

The moment Hermione had seen Cara's distraught face as she held the unresponsive Teddy in her arms, Hermione knew that the one suffering the most of all this was Cara. She had faith that Teddy would be fine under the care of Mme Pompfrey, but Cara was alone, loathed it seemed by Ginny, and worried to death over Teddy. Ginny might have refused to believe her new memories, but Hermione had accepted the blossoming relationship she had obviously witnessed between the two of them so long ago.

"Everything will be okay Cara, Teddy isn't one to go down that easily."

Cara just held to the older woman tighter, letting her tears soak into her shirt and trying to muffle her sobs. She thought herself a strong woman, and a year ago if you'd told her she'd be crying over a _boy_ she'd have probably hit you. But _now_... faced with the prospect of Teddy dying on her, she couldn't help herself but cry. The pain, fear, sadness and worry were too overwhelming to keep bottled up behind anger. She hated that she was crying, but she hated it more that Teddy wasn't awake right now to make fun of her for crying.

A sudden flare in the fireplace revealed the panicked form of an older Remus, followed quickly by his wife, Sirius and surprisingly Lissa. "Where is he?" Remus quickly asked Hermione. She simply pointed upstairs, and Remus nodded once before taking Tonks' hand and running up the stairs. Sirius and Lissa however turned to Cara. Hermione quickly relinquished her hold on Cara to Lissa, and she took over gently rocking the crying woman in her arms. Sirius, as clueless as ever in dealing with crying women, had learnt enough from experience to let the women do the talking, and silently sat beside Lissa, rubbing Cara's back soothingly.

Cara blinked up confusedly at Lissa, awe slowly appearing on her face. Memories she was not familiar with were flashing through her head, confusing her further, but from what she recognised, Lissa was and always had been, in complete control of her mind and memories. And Cara had a suspicion that it had to do with Lissa's new beau. "Aunt L-Lissa?"

"Hush darling," Lissa said as she rocked her niece in her arms, "Everything's going to be alright."

Cara nodded sadly, slowly letting her own exhaustion take over her, as she slipped away into unconsciousness. Lissa kept a hold of her niece, hugging her tightly. Ten months ago, it felt like her mind had suddenly cleared, and she knew it was down to her small family unit, of which Cara was a big part. To see her hurting like this hurt Lissa too. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand touch her shoulder, only to look up and see it was Sirius. She had almost forgotten he was here from him being unusually quiet. "Lissa love, let me take her upstairs and put her to bed."

Lissa raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure you can do it? I mean, you're practically an old man now."

Sirius pouted, "I was going to use my wand, but since you've challenged me..." with a huff he heaved Cara into his arms and stood, taking a second to adjust to the added weight, before slowly making his way up the stairs. Lissa rolled her eyes, but followed her idiot of a boyfriend, making sure he didn't _drop_ Cara along the way.

* * *

"No."

"It's the last one, I promise."

"You said that yesterday too."

"Well I mean it this time."

"I don't want it, it tastes _horrible_."

"Well what do you expect? It's medicine. Now _drink it_."

"No."

"Lupin!" Cara growled as she glared down at him in his bed. It was a week after returning to the present, and Teddy had woken up three days ago, only to be faced with an almost constant stream of potions concocted by Mme Pompfrey for him to consume. And none were nice to smell, see or taste. But Cara had decided to give herself the job of when she wasn't at work to make sure that he drank up his medicine as instructed. Unfortunately, she had failed to realise how big a baby Teddy was about such things. "Lupin, if you do not drink this-"

"Which I won't." Cara rolled her eyes, turning away from him in her chair. An idea occurred to her, and she quickly set about preparing for it. "Gernet? Gernet, are you ignoring me? Come on, I'm bored stuck in bed, don't ignore me."

Cara turned back to face him, smiling slightly at his pouting face. She leant towards him and Teddy smiled, eagerly leaning forwards to kiss her. His arms wrapped around her when their lips me, and Cara carefully rested her hands on his chest. When Teddy licked her lips to deepen the kiss, she opened her mouth and transferred the potion in her mouth into his. Teddy was so surprised he reflexively swallowed, before pulling away spluttering at the foul taste on his tongue. Cara burst out laughing.

"That wasn't very nice Gernet."

Cara shrugged, "It was effective, wasn't it?" she leant forward and kissed his lips lightly again, grinning at him still from her trick. Teddy rolled his eyes, but couldn't stay mad at Cara for too long, and drew her back into his arms. He shuffled slightly so Cara could fit on the bed with him, letting Cara possessively throw and arm and a leg on top of him. "I just want you to get better."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Because then you can 'kick my arse' for scaring you like that, you've told me already."

Cara looked up at him, shuffling higher on the bed so she could face him. "There's that, but what I also meant was..."

Teddy raised an eyebrow at her, "Was?" his eyes widened when he caught her devilish grin, gulping nervously when her hand began tracing lower down his body. "Oh."

"Mmm," Cara said, brushing her nose along Teddy's neck and taking in his comforting scent. "But don't worry, I'm sure I can occupy my time in other ways."

"W-What other ways?"

"Well-"

"Ahem."

Teddy and Cara's heads snapped to the now open doorway, and were met by the sight of a tall, exceptionally beautiful blonde woman, the glare on her face taking nothing from her beauty. Behind her, smirking, was Ginny, and an apologetic looking Harry. Teddy timidly raised a hand to her, "Hello Victoire."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 14

Cara leant against the wall, waiting for Mme Pompfrey to come out of the door beside her after checking on Teddy's condition. She had stood waiting like this almost every other time she visited, and was used to being practically thrown out by the surprisingly strong matron while she checked on her patient. The one big difference this time was that she was not the only one waiting. Victoire and Ginny stood on the other side of the door, chatting away easily to each other as they waited, backs turned to Cara.

It was extremely awkward.

Cara remained silently waiting, picking at her nails simply as something to do. Eventually the door was flung open, and the first one out this time was Teddy, a giant smile on his face. It faltered slightly at the smile Victoire sent him, making him awkwardly smile back. Turning around, he grinned again at the sight of Cara, hurrying to her side and stealing a kiss from her lips, an identical smile on Cara's face appearing as a result. "What was that for Lupin?"

"I'm free! That lady, that bossy, grumpy-"

"Ahem."

"-Absolutely _marvellous_ miracle to healing has cured me." Cara rolled her eyes, noticing Mme Pompfrey doing the same as she passed Teddy in the corridor. He sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck as he watched her stomp past. "Oops?"

"_Smooth_ Lupin."

"Shut up."

Cara shook her head, letting Teddy take her hand in his as he led her past the frowning Victoire and the fuming Ginny, down the stairs and straight to the kitchen. "I should have known you would have followed your stomach." Teddy just kept smiling, _far_ too happy to finally be out of bed again. And now to satisfy his empty stomach, which had been complaining of all the potions that had been forced down his throat. Cara pushed him down into one of the chairs as soon as they entered the kitchen. "Sit. I know Mme Pompfrey 'released' you, but you shouldn't strain yourself. And _yes_, that includes making food. I'll get something for you, and if you even _think_ of moving an inch, I'll tie you to your chair and eat your food in front of you."

Teddy nodded, smiling slightly, "I didn't know you liked taking care of people Gernet."

"I don't." Cara replied as she set about making him a sandwich Muggle style. It was something Teddy could eat easily. He raised an eyebrow at her in response. "It's true, I hate looking after people."

"Then what do you call this?"

"This is different. It's for you, I don't mind then."

Teddy grinned, hooking an arm around her waist when she was close enough and pulling Cara to sit on his lap. She squeaked in surprise, managing to keep a hold of the plate with the sandwich on it, before she turned to glare at Teddy. He just smiled at her, planting a kiss on her cheek before he started devouring the sandwich presented to him. Cara rolled her eyes at him, but sat patiently on his lap, watching him eat. _At least he looks better_. The pop of someone Apparating revealed Tonks and Remus emerging in the kitchen. Cara managed to slide off Teddy's lap just in time for Tonks to throw herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, we just heard you were cleared by Pompfrey. You are okay, right?" Remus calmly detached his wife from his son, before attacking him himself in a tight hug. "Hey! Remus, you can't do that! _I_ was hugging him first!" Tonks pouted when Remus ignored her, so she turned to Cara, a smile slowly working itself onto her face. "Aha! I almost forgot!"

Cara smiled nervously at the mischievous look Tonks was giving her, Teddy and Remus also noticing this look. "What?"

"I have the right to interrogate my son's _girlfriend_."

"_Mum!_"

"Nymphadora, I have to agree with Teddy here." Remus said, "We already know Cara."

"Not a word mister, or do you want me to prevent you interrogating every boyfriend of Emma's?" Cara and Teddy were momentarily confused, before they seemed to remember Teddy's fifteen year old sister. She was a regular bookworm and shy, but had had Remus wrapped around her little finger since day one. And wolves are _very_ protective of their packs.

Remus huffed, "... Fine, interrogate her."

Tonks grinned, standing on tiptoes to place a kiss on Remus' cheek. "Thank you darling." She then turned and grabbed Cara by the wrist, leading her out of the kitchen and into the living room. Sitting themselves down on the sofa, Tonks turned sideways on the sofa to face a nervous looking Cara. "Don't worry, I'm not _really_ going to interrogate you. I just wanted to have some nice girl talk."

Cara shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not really a 'girl talk' kind of girl."

"Oh thank Merlin," Tonks sighed, "When Teddy was dating Victoire... I love the girl, but damn can she _talk_!" Cara nodded, remembering the chatty girl even from Hogwarts. She remembered no matter how long Victoire would talk for; Teddy would sit patiently listening – _actually_ listening – and still be happy to simply listen. _They fit well together_. "Hey, none of that sad face now. I know Victoire may have been good for Teddy, but so are you. You're both different people, that's all."

"Very different," Cara said, "And Ginny is very... protective."

"She hates you, doesn't she?" Cara nodded. "It's nothing personal, it's more due to Teddy and Victoire _not_ being together. She always liked the idea of 'officially' making Teddy a Weasley, so when they suddenly broke up, I think she was more upset than anyone else."

Cara continued chatting lightly with Tonks, but in the back of her mind she still had doubts about her acceptance. She didn't even know why it mattered so much that Ginny didn't like her. Or that Victoire was now around Teddy all the time. Or that no one else seemed to know the real reason behind Teddy and Victoire's break-up. None of that should matter because she had Teddy, _right?_ Cara hated to think of herself as the jealous type, but when 'competing' with a beauty like Victoire, it was very hard to deny being jealous. Warm arms suddenly wrapped around her back and her knees, lifting her up off the sofa. Cara punched Teddy lightly in the shoulder, "What are you doing? You could hurt yourself, you've only _just_ been cleared by Pompfrey."

Teddy rolled his eyes at her, walking out of the living room with her still in his arms. "I'm fine, but if you _really_ need convincing, I'm sure I could do _something_ to prove how well I am."

Cara blushed at the suggestive look Teddy was giving her, both of them jumping at the retching sounds behind them. Tonks was fake-vomiting to Remus, her hands clamped firmly over her ears and her eyes shut tight, "There are some things a mother _doesn't_ want to hear about her son's love life! Oh god, the mental pictures. Get out, get out, get out!" Remus simply shook his head at his wife's childishness, and leant down to kiss her, determined to clear her mind.

Teddy carried Cara back up to the room he had been confined to before, shutting the door and dropping onto the bed with her still in his arms. He kept a hold of her, kissing her all over her face and making her laugh from the ticklish nature of the kisses. "Move in with me."

Cara's eyes snapped open, looking up to lock eyes with Teddy. "What?"

"Will you move in with me?" Teddy said again, "I think it would feel too weird not having you around constantly after living for so long under the same roof together. What do you say?"

Cara beamed up at him, before burying her face in his chest, "I'd love to move in with you, but are you sure you can handle me all day every day?"

Teddy grinned down at her, rolling over on top of Cara. "I'm sure I'd manage somehow."

* * *

A week later and Cara was moving the last of her things into a box, before Apparating over to Teddy's-_ their_ place. Currently, the cosy living room seemed much smaller, filled with cardboard boxes everywhere. _Might as well start unpacking, where is that boy anyway?_ Cara turned her mind back to the task at hand, and flipped open the nearest box to her, finding a heap of her clothing. She scooped up most into her arms, before walking to his- _their_ bedroom, dumping it onto the bed as she sought out the wire hangers. Of course she could do this the magical way and have everything done in minutes, but she had time to spare.

Sifting through the mountain of clothing, Cara started hanging them up, muttering a quick spell to have all the wrinkles in the clothes vanish. Ever since she had witnessed Teddy's use of wandless magic, she had been experimenting herself, and found a knack for it. Half way through, Cara came across a well-worn knitted blue sweater of Teddy's hanging in the wardrobe, with a big gold 'T' across the front of it. _It looks so comfy_. Biting her lip nervously as she looked at the hanging sweater, Cara eventually thought, _screw it_, and pulled it off its hanger, slipping into it herself. It felt as comfy as it looked, but since it was made for Teddy, it came down almost to her knees.

Cara was admiring the golden 'T' on the front of the sweater when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, "You look almost as good as I do in that sweater of mine." Cara smiled, turning in the arms enclosed around her, and looking up to see Teddy grinning down at her. "Of course, you can't make your hair match that blue, so I still look better in _my_ sweater."

"Really?" Cara said, a mischievous smirk replacing the smile on her face. Reaching up she started trailing her fingers up Teddy's chest and around his neck, stopping only to play with the short curls of turquoise at the nape of his neck. "You don't mind though, do you?"

"Well... I guess, since by wearing that sweater it means your _mine_."

Cara frowned, "What?"

"It's got my initial on it, and you're in it. Therefore, you are mine."

Cara rolled her eyes at him, "What, are you a caveman now? Must you claim everything within reach as yours?" Teddy growled playfully, scooping Cara into his arms and throwing her over one shoulder. "Lupin! Put me down you freak! No, no, no, no! Not on the bed, you'll crumple all my clothes. Lupin!" he ignored her, toppling them both down onto the bed and on top of Cara's clothes. She pulled herself up on top of Teddy, hitting him once in the shoulder, "You arse! You did that on purpose!"

Teddy just laughed, enjoying the flustered look Cara was sporting in her temper. With her cheeks flushed a faint pink and a fire lit in her blue eyes, Teddy swore she was practically glowing. He had this look memorised already, from his days in Hogwarts. It had thrilled him to be the only one to really get under the skin of the bookworm of a Ravenclaw, Caroline Gernet. It excited him the idea that she was constantly thinking about him... about his downfall, but still, him. Reaching up he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind one ear, leaving his fingers to trail across one side of her face before resting at her neck. Leaning up, he drew Cara's lips into a surprisingly gentle kiss, taking his time to suck on both her lips before deepening the kiss. When they pulled away, Cara took a minute to get her breath back, too busy before to even care about a little need like _oxygen_. Looking down at Teddy, she couldn't help giggling slightly at a thought.

Teddy smiled, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just thinking."

"About?"

"If you had told me a year ago that I would not only love _you_, but now be living with _you_, I would probably have hexed you so bad. But now... it's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"You've thought about this?" Cara shrugged, flushing darker as she looked away from Teddy's intense silver eyes. "Tell me what you thought of."

"It will sound stupid, and you probably won't believe me, but despite all you did to me I had a crush on you in fifth year." Cara said, still refusing to look at him. "I mean, despite being _incredibly_ immature and childish, some of your pranks were quite brilliant. And you were obviously clever. And you seemed nice... not with me, but when I saw you with other people they only seemed to have nice things to say about you."

"You wanna know a secret?" Cara raised an eyebrow at him, wary of the look on his face. "I had a crush on you from the moment I saw you, in your little pigtails as you sat with the Sorting Hat."

"Shut up!"

"I'm not lying. I thought you were the prettiest girl in the world. That first prank was to impress you, but when you ended up scolding me, I thought you had to be a silly girl and I needed to... I don't know, humiliate you I guess, for how stupid you made me feel."

"For _seven years_?"

"I was persistent, and I thought you might even be impressed with one of my pranks, but in the end when you were the only girl unimpressed, I thought I had better move on."

Cara chuckled, "You never thought of, I don't know, _asking me out_? That would have been the easy, _logical_ way."

"Now love, we both know I'm not the most logical person in the world." Teddy said, before pressing kisses everywhere he could reach on Cara, "But you love me because of it."

"Yes, there is that." Cara said, before rolling over on top of him.

"What are you doing love?" she ignored him and began trailing kisses down his neck. "I thought you were worried about your clothes-"

"Shut up Lupin."

"Yes ma'am."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

**Chapter dedicated to ****kankananime123 for such a GREAT review!**

* * *

Chapter 15

"We're going to have to get out of bed eventually."

"I beg to differ," Teddy mumbled into his pillow, arm wrapped firmly around Cara's waist. It had been two months since she had moved in, and after a few initial hiccups which came with adjusting to live with someone new, everything had settled quite quickly for the couple. Cara rolled over and squirmed, trying to get out of Teddy's tight grip on her, but only succeeded in letting him gain a firmer hold of her. She eventually slapped him in the arm, "Ow! Easy love, you seemed a lot more affectionate last night. And this morning actually."

There was a sharp knocking heard suddenly from their front door, causing Cara to smirk down at her beloved. "Now we have even more reason to get out of bed."

"No," Teddy groaned, "Now _you_ have more reason to get out of bed. You were the one that wanted to get out, weren't you?"

Cara's eyes narrowed. She leant over Teddy, drawing his lips into a slow and sensual kiss, her hand trailing delicately down his chest. Teddy smiled into the kiss, reaching up with one hand to cup Cara's neck and pull her back to bed. But just as he was about to do so, Cara jumped out of bed, taking the sheets and quilt with her, the only thing wrapped around her. "I'd better go answer the door then."

"Gernet! That's not fair!" Teddy cried, before sulking towards the bathroom for a shower, ignoring Cara's appraising eyes watching him.

Cara chuckled as she hurried to answer the door, quickly transfiguring the sheets around her into a bathrobe. Opening the door, her smile faltered as she saw Victoire smiling back at her. "Victoire, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just came to see Teddy, and you of course." She said as she brushed past Cara and into the apartment, making herself comfortable on the love seat. "We haven't really had much time to talk, have we? I'm sure we could be good friends, since we already seem to have such similar taste in things."

Cara just resisted growling at her, believing not a word coming out of her little glossed lips. "How thoughtful of you."

"Yes, Auntie Ginny suggested it. She has always had a special place in her heart for me."

"Mhm."

Victoire cast an eye at Cara's robe, lip curling in distaste, "Perhaps I should come back later though, I see you were not expecting visitors."

Cara almost rolled her eyes, because honestly how many women are impeccably dressed at eight o'clock in the morning on a _Sunday_? "Maybe you should. How about-"

The bedroom door suddenly opened and Teddy appeared with only a towel wrapped around his waist. "Gernet, where are my jeans- Victoire!"

Victoire just smirked at him, her eyes lazily taking Teddy in. Cara's eye twitched. "Hello Teddy."

"Erm-I-er-well-" and with that Teddy hurriedly closed the bedroom door again and silence descended once again in the living room.

Cara wasn't willing to make this any easier for Victoire, so remained silently for her to make the first move. It didn't take long. Victoire pouted bored in her seat, before looking again at Cara. "You know, with the right clothes and a little touching up, you wouldn't look so bad I suppose."

Cara once again restrained herself from attacking the blonde in _her_ living room. "Lupin likes how I look."

"Mmm, maybe he doesn't care anymore, after, well, you know." At the end of her patience, Cara almost attacked Victoire when the bedroom door opened again, a clothed Teddy walking out of the room now although his hair was still wet. "Hello again, I feel like I haven't seen you in the longest time. I missed you." Victoire said, before patting the space beside her, "Sit."

Glancing at the fuming figure of Cara, Teddy hesitantly sat on the loveseat, which left no room for Cara. She was forced to sit on the armchair opposite them. "Yeah, I guess with everything that's been going on that we've just been missing each other or something... so... was there something you wanted?"

"Not particularly, I just wanted to come by for a chat, you know," Victoire said leaning forward, "Like we used to. Those were nice, weren't they?"

Teddy smiled slightly at the memories of their long conversations together, sometimes spanning the whole afternoon. "Yeah, they were."

Cara frowned to herself, _we never have very long conversations..._ usually she and Teddy might have a 'normal' conversation, which would usually be cut short when something sparked an argument or something else between them. It was never boring, but Cara couldn't help thinking about what else her relationship was missing that Victoire had had in her relationship with Teddy. Shifting uncomfortably in the presence of her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, Cara decided to leave to do the shopping she had planned for later. She trusted Teddy not to do anything to compromise their relationship. As she said her goodbyes, Cara swore she saw a face in the fireplace, but when she looked again saw nothing but smouldering embers. Shaking her head, Cara quickly changed and left the apartment. _Hopefully when I come back in a few hours _she'll_ be gone._

* * *

Weeks later, and Cara was now quite used to Victoire visiting Teddy several times a week. She had mentioned being uncomfortable about it to Teddy, but he quickly shot down any argument with the watertight counter-argument of "_she's just a friend_", or "_I've known her my whole life, I'm not going to cut her out just because we're seeing other people now_" and the worst one "_don't you trust me?_". _Of course I trust you Teddy_, Cara thought to herself, _it's that _witch_ I don't trust. _Sighing, she returned to her paperwork, her quill almost tearing through the parchment when a particularly angry thought passed through her head.

Several of her co-workers had inquired to her well-being. They were used to her being politely indifferent to the private lives of her colleagues, but Cara had never seemed _angry_ at work. After the first death glare however, they had decided to leave her to her anger, giving Cara's desk as wide a berth as possible. To be perfectly honest, for the first time in her life Cara had never been surrounded by so many people concerned about her – Sirius, Auntie Lissa, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, just to name a few – and yet she had never felt so lonely before.

At least before her whole mission, Cara had been used to being alone. She was perfectly happy caring for her Auntie and herself, as well as focusing more on her work than lack of social life.

But ever since they had returned, and ever since Teddy had begun to talk about what seemed like nothing other than Victoire, that taste of company left a bitter taste in her mouth. Being alone and being lonely were completely different things. She wasn't even sure how to approach the topic with Teddy. Most of her experience with him had been in Hogwarts when they were fighting, or even now when they were fighting. _Wow, we do fight a lot_. But it never meant anything, it was just bickering, nothing hurtful was said that couldn't be taken back or laughed at later.

Still... Cara couldn't help noticing the sly look Ginny had been having in her eyes the last few times they had met in Weasley or Potter dinners together, and Victoire had been looking increasingly smug and more _beautiful_ if possible. Cara looked down at her clothes, jeans a top and her newly knitted Weasley sweater. Not the most glamorous, but Cara went more for comfort than looks. Her hair was tied back in a practical ponytail, her raven hair now reaching the middle of her back, and there wasn't a thing other than skin on her face. She never could be bothered in the morning, and she didn't think she looked _that _bad.

This wasn't helping her self-esteem.

"Cara," Cara looked up to see Danny Corner, a fellow Auror holding a pile of papers out to her. "I've got that report you requested."

Cara took the papers before looking up at Danny again, "I'm pretty, right?"

Danny blinked in confusion, before smiling hesitantly at her and walking away again. Cara sighed, filing her papers away with a flick of her wand, and gathering her things. It was the end of another day, and tonight she was meeting up with Teddy at the Potter's for dinner. She made her way to the elevator to see to her surprise Harry already inside. Harry politely held the door open for her, and they both went down the elevator together in mildly awkward silence. There were unsaid things kept between them. Cara knew Harry knew that Ginny was up to something, and she respected – if grudgingly – that Harry wanted to protect his wife even by letting her schemes continue. Cara also knew that Harry had no personal grudge against her himself, so she was torn between trying to be friends with him, respecting him as her boss and the godfather of her boyfriend, as well as grudging him somewhat for Ginny's behaviour.

Hence the _mildly_ awkward silence.

"I think Molly's made a roast tonight." Harry finally said, breaking the silence.

Cara flashed him a quick smile, "That sounds tasty."

"Yes... I expect Sirius will be bringing some Firewhiskey too, as always."

"That's nice..."

"Yes."

"Mhmm."

_Awkward_. It wasn't just awkward, but Cara was feeling slightly paranoid as they left the building together. Over the past two weeks, the last few days in particular, Cara had the funny feeling she was being followed. _What I wouldn't give to have Moody's eye now_... she had tried finding whoever was following her, then she had tried ignoring it, but she hadn't told anyone about it. How embarrassing would it be if it turned out to be nothing? She, an Auror, scared of something that didn't exist! Still, Cara couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her movements carefully. Hadn't she had enough drama with the whole going-to-the-past-to-rescue-people mission? The prophecy was finished, right? _No... that last line..._

She snapped out of her thoughts as she Apparated to the Weasley's Burrow, everyone already there and all happily welcoming Harry and Cara from work. Teddy grinned at her, pulling her into a tight hug and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Every bad thought momentarily vanished from Cara, and she was reminded of how much her life had changed for the better in the past year. Suddenly she was pulled away from Teddy, and was about to protest vehemently when she saw who it was holding her. "Sirius!" Cara cried, beaming at him. Even though they saw each other regularly, there was just something about Sirius that Cara never tired of.

"Hello love, miss me?"

Cara shook her head, but hugged him anyway, before hugging and kissing her Auntie behind him. She had asked them once why they weren't married yet, given that Sirius's name had long been cleared, but they had simply said that they didn't need a ceremony or a piece of paper. They were married in every other way possible. Auntie Lissa swore that Sirius was her soulmate... at least when he wasn't being an immature baby that refused to accept that he was no longer a twenty-something 'hottie'. Sirius swore that his bad reputation was now a hit among the _ladies_.

Dinner went as it always did in the Burrow; chaotically. With so many children, and the grandchildren too young for Hogwarts, as well as friends and old Order members in one house, it was a miracle that Mrs. Weasley hadn't had a heart attack from the stress. Then again, she had had years of experience in the matter. At least now her children were helping discipline her grandchildren, even Fred and George were behaving quite well tonight. The dining table had been magically expended to fit everyone, and even then it was a tight squeeze, but it was a little too cold to eat outside tonight so everyone tucked in happily. The dinner was suddenly interrupted by a sharp rapping from the front door.

"Molly dear, were you expecting anyone?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, looking as confused as he did, "Who would come here now?"

"Maybe it's Hagrid," Mr. Weasley said as he stood from his seat, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I'll go look."

Despite the slight disruption, everyone slowly returned to their happy atmosphere. Ginny wasn't even sending Cara any glares tonight, although she was ignoring her. Cara was more concerned with Victoire at the moment anyway, who was leaning a _little_ too close to Teddy for her liking. Cara didn't want to be one of those clingy, possessive girlfriends to Teddy, but she couldn't help it. She had something so good in her life right now that Cara wasn't about to lose him to the woman who rejected him before. _But there had to be _some_ limits right? _Cara thought to herself, _I mean, I don't spend several hours a week by myself talking to an ex-boyfriend_-

"AHH!"

Everyone froze at the scream, before all at once we moved again. Wands out, everyone rushed to the front door and found Mr. Weasley being held down by two black cloaked figures – _how cliché_ – crying out in pain. Cara almost doubled over from a sudden agonizing pain in her left shoulder, but held the pain in. Harry however almost collapsed to the ground, clutching his fading scar as a familiar over-whelming pain swept through his head. He grit his teeth and glared incredulously at the figures holding Mr. Weasley down, uttering one word which shocked everyone behind him, "Death eaters?"

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley cried out, almost shaking with worry and fury.

The whole group advanced on the two assumed Death eaters, but they Apparated before a single hex had been sent. Molly was now fussing over her husband, who insisted he was fine other than perhaps needing a strong cup of tea. The happy atmosphere of the dinner was ruined though, and everyone quickly returned home or to bed once they were sure no more Death eaters were going to appear.

Cara chose to mention nothing to the others about the pain in her shoulder when the Death eater's had arrived, or the fact that she _thought_ they had looked straight at her before they Apparated away.

It couldn't mean anything, _right?_


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

Chapter 16

Ever since Mr. Weasley's attack, everyone, including Teddy, was on higher alert and more paranoid and protective since Cara had seen when she had gone back in time to the Second War. No one wanted another war. Well, since everyone was suddenly more protective, Teddy had been paying a lot more attention to Cara, cutting his talks with Victoire down a lot, much to Cara's relief. He still disagreed with what she thought Cara and Ginny were up to, but it didn't matter to Cara since he was spending time with her anyway.

But the attack had gotten to her, as well as the unshakeable feeling of _still_ being followed.

It had gotten her back to thinking about the prophecy. Although the mission had finished over two months ago, something had been building, Cara could feel it. Something was missing, something didn't quite fit, there was something left incomplete. And perhaps the only person Cara felt would know something about what to do with the whole situation, was the person who had ordered the mission themselves. Not McGonagall, but Dumbledore.

Unfortunately he was dead. But his portrait still hung in Hogwarts, _perhaps a visit?_ Cara decided a visit was needed, at least to give her some peace of mind. So the next day after breakfast with Teddy and a goodbye that left her giddy, Cara Apparated to the edge of Hogwarts' grounds, and prepared for a long trek to the castle itself. _Why didn't I just Floo myself again?_ Shaking her head at her lack of foresight, Cara continued walking anyway, and smiled as she soon saw the castle in sight. Along the way however, she spotted Hagrid's hut, and decided a quick visit wouldn't hurt too much.

Changing her path slightly, Cara made her way to the hut and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal the smiling familiar face of the half-giant himself. "Cara!"

"Hi Hagrid, how are you?"

"Fine, I'm fine," Hagrid said, pulling her into the house, "Come in! Would you like some tea?"

"I'd love some thanks-" Cara blinked at the man sat at Hagrid's table. He looked older than her, big build hidden under slightly ratty clothing, and a slightly sickly pale hue clung to his skin. Short cropped brown hair hung to his equally dark eyes, and there was a familiarity about him, "Adam?"

The serious look on the man's face dissolved into a huge grin as he crossed the room in two strides and lifted Cara off the floor in a tight hug. "Cara! It's been so long, I missed you baby sis."

"Baby sis?" Cara said with a blink, her 'new' memories returning to her. Adam _had_ apparently been adopted by Sirius, and when Sirius and Lissa had taken Cara in after the death of her parents, Adam had been the over-protective big brother, remembering vividly – however strange the concept – that this baby girl had rescued him. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here silly girl," Adam said, placing Cara back on her feet. "I just couldn't stay away from the place I guess. I've been a groundskeeper with Hagrid for about three years now, although my place is on the other side of Hogwarts, makes it easier taking care of things when we're spread out more. And Hagrid's great company when work's slow."

"Yeah," Hagrid said, "He's been a good student. And the bloody stubborn creatures just seem to like him, which makes things tha' much easier, ya know? Plus, two pairs of hands are better than one, as they say."

Cara just smiled, taking a seat between the two much bigger men and laughing more than she had in the past week with them as they drank tea and gnawed on rock cakes. After a long chat with them, Cara reluctantly said goodbye, promising to come back later quickly after her chat with Dumbledore's portrait. Walking out of the warm hut, Cara only now realised how much time had passed with Hagrid and Adam, as the sky was still light but there was a cool chill that was settling with the coming evening. She hurried to the castle, easily finding her way to the headmistress's office. Uttering a quick 'Sherbet Lemon' to the guard gargoyle, she ascended the spiralling staircase and made her way inside the office, spinning around to find a Dumbledore slumbering in his portrait.

"Erm, excuse me?" Cara said, unsure the proper etiquette when talking to the portrait of a dead person. "Professor Dumbledore?"

It took a few moments for Dumbledore to blink his eyes and awaken fully, but the familiar sparkle in his eyes appeared as he leant forward in his picture with a smile as he looked to Cara, "Ms Gernet, how lovely to see you here again. I take it that the mission was a success."

Cara blinked in surprise, "You remember about the mission? You remember me in the past?"

"Vaguely yes, but I was reminded of it especially when Minerva called that meeting of everyone here a while ago."

"Of course."

"So what can I do for you my dear?"

"I've just been really confused, and concerned recently." Cara said, her eyebrows knitting together as she thought aloud, "I mean, the mission was a success, Remus, Tonks and Sirius are all alive, and many others so as a result. And as far as I can see there was no harm done to our side as a result of Lupin and me travelling through time. We're all happy, and safe, and... and..."

"It seems too perfect?"

"No, that's not it... I just, it just feels unfinished. I feel like something still needs to be done, it seems too easy otherwise. Where are those new Voldemort supporters that were threatening us? Have they just vanished? Given up? And there's that last line of the prophecy, it doesn't make sense!-"

"What line?"

Cara thought for a second, trying to remember the prophecy.

"_In the midst of peace the Dark Lord shall return _

_From the past his loyal followers will go_

_For peace to return three rescuers are needed_

_A mother, a father and most faithful a friend_

_Taken before their time_

_Twice back two rivals must go to save them;_

_A son of the three and his raven rival_

_To pay the sacred exchange of time."_

"And what doesn't make sense?"

"Well, what 'sacred exchange'? We haven't 'paid' for anything. It doesn't make sense, is it saying that something has to happen to balance out the..." Cara's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh..."

Dumbledore just smiled down at her, "You have reached your own conclusion."

"Something still has to happen, doesn't it?"

He nodded to her, "So it seems. For every action there must be a reaction. It is one thing for new Death eaters to intend to go back in time to restore their fallen leader, but another thing entirely to actually go back and change the original fate of three people. Something has to be done to balance it."

"But what?" Cara asked. She looked up to see Dumbledore simply staring down at her, a sombre look on his face. "What?"

"I think it is best for you to find the answer to that for yourself, my dear. Not all questions have been answered, there are some questions that have yet to be questioned, and answers that have yet to be discovered."

Cara half wanted to scream at the portrait until he revealed exactly what he knew but was refusing to tell her, but instead nodded her head. This _was_ Dumbledore, he worked in mysterious ways. She could only hope that whatever he had planned worked well. "Alright Dumbledore, I'll keep thinking then."

"Yes," Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eye clouded by what looked like sadness, "You were always good at that."

Cara smirked, before saluting the portrait. "Well, I'll be off then. I think there's another rock cake at Hagrid's with my unfortunate name on it."

Dumbledore chuckled, vividly remembering the baked 'goods'. "Say hello to him for me."

"I will," Cara said, before leaving the office. She took her time making her way out of the castle, waving at several of the portraits on her way out. Her days in Hogwarts seemed so simple then, where the only problems were her exams or Teddy. Now... now things seemed so much more difficult. Still, things could be worse in life. Cara breathed in the cool, fresh air as she stepped out onto the grounds, cast now in a warm golden colour from the setting sun. Hagrid's hut lay not far away, and from the tendrils of smoke escaping the chimney, Cara assumed Hagrid and Adam were probably still waiting inside for her. Quickening her pace, the chill air feeling colder, Cara was halfway to the hut when hands suddenly grabbed her.

Cara tried to shake them off, reaching for the wand on her belt, but the hands holding her were strong. She looked up to see the familiar silver masks and black cloaks of Death eaters. _Death eaters?_ Cara thought to herself,_ How?_ She struggled harder against their grip on her, but one of them kicked out her legs, making her fall to her knees. A harsh hit to the soft temple of her head made black dots appear in front of her, and a bad headache. Feeling woozy, Cara slumped slightly in the hands holding her, trying to shake herself awake and reach for her wand.

Whispered words were heard beside her left ear only seconds before a shooting wave of pain after pain radiated from her left shoulder. Cara screamed at the pain, writhing helplessly in the hold of the Death eaters. Any thought of getting her wand were gone, replaced simply by the pain. It hurt worse than any _Cruciatus_ she had ever received. She screamed so loud that seconds later Hagrid and Adam jumped in their seats at Hagrid's dining table. Both headed for the doors, only to find them hexed shut. Both pulled out their wands – illegal and legal – and desperately cast every unlocking spell they could at both doors, even a _Bombarda_ or two, but still they would not open. Fuelled by the screams they could still hear, Hagrid battered into his door, using his whole body to try and force the door open.

"Come on!" Adam cried, "We have to get out there!"

"I'm tryin' but the door's not budging." Groaning to himself, Adam ran a hand through his thick hair, cringing at a new bout of screams he could hear. An idea suddenly sparked in Adam's mind, and his head snapped up. Mentally apologising to Hagrid, Adam backed up as far as he could in the hut, before running and crashing through the window. Hagrid turned at the shattering sound, before quickly following, to the window, "Good idea lad!"

Adam tumbled out in a shower of glass, ignoring the small cuts he felt on his body as he already started running up towards Cara. Behind him Hagrid's thundering footfalls could be heard. Adam flicked his wand, casting an _Expelliamus_ at one of the two Death eaters holding down his baby sister, the spell hitting the target a lot harder in his anger. The second Death eater dropped Cara, turning to grab their fallen companion, and disappearing in a familiar swirl of a Portkey.

Adam pushed his anger aside for worry as he dropped to Cara's fallen body, still twitching in pain. Gently cradling her in his arms, he looked over his shoulder to Hagrid, who was watching Cara anxiously while still clutching his pink umbrella tightly. "Hagrid, get the others, they need to hear about this."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna take Cara straight to St Mungo's," Adam said, carefully lifting Cara into his arms as he stood. "I'll use the fireplace in your house, it'll be the quickest way. You use one the Knight Bus." Hagrid nodded, hurrying away to the gates to catch the Knight Bus. Adam hurried himself to Hagrid's hut, hushing Cara every now and then when she cried out, "It'll be alright soon Cara, I'm here. You _are_ going to be okay damnit."

In a flash of emerald green flames, Adam found himself stepping into the foyer of St Mungo's, Healers and nurses bustling about busily. Several stopped though when they noticed the tall young man carrying a limp woman in his arms. Cara's head dropped onto Adam's shoulder, exhausted from her screaming and from the pain, worrying Adam even more.

"Somebody help my sister! _Now_!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: ****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the author. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

**Adam's love interest mini-bio**

**Name: Ellie Landon-Cross (thanks Sunset on Heartache, I hope you don't mind the alteration)**

**Age: 29 aka a year older than Adam (again, thanks Sunset on Heartache)**

**Occupation: Healer (thanks for the idea kankananime123, I'll still be working Ryan in btw, just not in quite the same way you PM-ed me about, hope you don't mind)**

**How they met: Adam and Ellie met at Hagrid's pumpkin patch (Goose-chan, notice the similarity to your idea here?) in Ellie's sixth year, where Adam then developed a crush on her, falling for her instantly on sight. But, having little experience with girls at the time, he got all tongue-tied, and Ellie was just confused by the cute but mute boy in front of her. Now though... ;P**

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Chapter 17

To say Teddy was worried would be an understatement. As he looked down at the limp, pale and _still_ unconscious body of his girlfriend, lying in the hospital bed, he swore death to those who had harmed her. His emotions flip-flopped between the two; worry and anger, his flashing multicoloured hair reflecting his inner battle with himself. Half of him wanted to break out of the stifling atmosphere of the hospital and help the others in tracking down and catching those Death eaters still out there. But the other half of Teddy, and the bigger half right now, would have needed a supernatural catastrophe to tear him out of the room right now. Nothing bad could happen to her, there was still so much he had planned for the two of them.

He knew he hadn't been the most attentive boyfriend recently, but Cara's idea that Ginny and Victoire were scheming to break their relationship seemed ridiculous to him. Sure he noticed the tense attitude Ginny held to Cara, but she had practically been his mother in his 'old life' before Tonks had been saved, so it was natural for her to be a little protective, right? And the way that Victoire had suddenly such an interest in him was probably just to make up for those two years they had hardly seen each other after their break-up. Victoire and he had always been close, ever since they were children. Life had seemed a little lacking without her.

And then Cara came along, and life wasn't as lacking anymore.

It was ridiculous of her to think he would leave her for Victoire. Sure he had a few lingering feelings, but it would take more than that for Teddy to jeopardize their relationship. Cara would have to turn into _Voldemort_ himself for Teddy to push her away! And how likely was _that_ to happen?

"Lupin, sit your _arse_ down, you're making me dizzy with your pacing," a deep voice said.

Teddy turned to the voice, seeing Adam sat in a chair of his own massaging the headache from his head. Reluctantly, Teddy took his seat on Cara's other side, taking her limp hand in his and brushing the back of it with his thumb. He hoped that this would be the last time that he would be in this position, but knowing Cara and her knack for getting herself in as much trouble as he did, Teddy didn't put too much hope behind that thought. Adam was looking about as haggard and torn as Teddy in his seat. He wanted to join his parents and the others in their search for the Death eaters who had attacked Cara, but he too was firmly planted by Cara's side. At least until she woke up.

"It shouldn't be long now."

"She should have woken up by now Adam!"

Adam scoffed, "Have you forgotten how much Cara loves her sleep? I wouldn't put it past her to decide to sleep the day away simply because she _can_."

Teddy couldn't help smiling at that thought, knowing exactly how much Cara treasured her sleep. He had spent one too many a morning with an unusually sharp elbow to his face when trying to wake Cara up. But then she would always apologise and kiss him better. Plus, it made the mornings when she wasn't a monster to wake up that much more special. It was sort of exciting, never knowing what each morning with her would entail. It was always exciting being with her.

Seconds later, the door to the private hospital room opened, and in came Sirius and Lissa, both looking as worried as they had before leaving the hospital earlier that day. After a quick hug hello to the two boys, Lissa turned to her niece, placing a kiss onto her forehead and brushing back her dark hair from her face. Cara looked simply asleep, were it not for the unusually pale colour of her skin. Lissa gently caressed Cara's face, taking in her niece's peaceful features. Even her small button nose seemed peaceful. She looked angelic in her sleep, thick dark eyelashes resting on high cheekbones and long delicate eyebrows lying above her closed blue eyes, blue eyes that were piercing should you stray under their gaze. But Lissa knew how _un_-angelic she could be too.

Sirius looked back at the boys, "No change?"

Adam shook his head while Teddy slumped back into his seat, taking Cara's hand back in his. "The Healers checked everything, they don't know what's wrong with her. It wasn't the Cruciatus curse, I would have recognised it. They did _something_ to her, I heard the screams to prove it, but they can't find out what."

Sirius patted him on the shoulder, "Chin up son, Cara's no weakling. She'll wake up soon enough, and then we might have more success in finding out what happened."

"Yeah I guess..." Adam muttered back, "How's the search going?"

"About as well as Cara's diagnosis. We know they're out there, but we can't find where."

"Maybe you're getting rusty old man, and us young folk should be out searching. We wouldn't want you breaking a hip bone now, would we?" Adam teased, a small smile on his face.

"Hey!" Sirius huffed, mock anger on his face, "I am not _old_, and my hips are just fine, ask your mother! Only last night we were-"

"Sirius!"

"Sorry dear, but he started it! Calling me _old_..."

Lissa rolled her eyes at her man. She loved his childish nature sometimes, but he was downright embarrassing sometimes too, and he never seemed to get self-conscious by anything he said! This was their _son_ he was discussing their sex life to. Adam probably hadn't wanted to know, by the look on his face. In fact, he looked a little nauseous. "It serves you right, you're the one who insisted that he needed to learn how to talk back." Sirius frowned, remembering the day when Adam was only eleven. He had intended it to be only a defensive verbal manoeuvre should Adam need it, but the boy had taken to witty comebacks like a duck to water, and Sirius had been paying for it ever since. _Oh to still be taller than Adam and have him listen to me..._

The door to the private hospital room suddenly opened once again, and in walked a young Healer – by the uniform – with her ringlets of honey blonde hair streaked with red, tied back in a ponytail, showing off her heart-shaped face with a forehead a little too wide, and wide coffee coloured eyes lined with thick black eyeliner. Her full red lips were pulled into a polite smile as she looked at the group in the room surrounding the patient, but her eyes stopped on one of the men in the room.

Tall, dark and handsome. He was dressed a little scruffily, but even the way he stood exuded a quiet confidence.

There was also something quite familiar about him...

Shaking her head before she let her fantasies run away from her, she smiled again at the group, "Hello, I am Healer Landon-Cross, are you the family of the patient?"

Sirius smirked at the Healer, noticing her repeated glances at his son. "Yes, we're the family. And who are _you_ my dear?" His smirk was wiped off his face by a punch to his arm from Adam, a small glare sent down at him, "What?"

Adam rolled his eyes, a small blush gracing his face, "Behave."

"Why?" Sirius asked in a whisper, genuinely confused. Usually Adam was his partner-in-crime in all manner of teasing. "Do you know her?"

Adam had recognised the young Healer the moment she had stepped into the room, and had reverted back into his tongue-tied fifteen year old self, rather than the usually confident twenty-eight year old he was now. _Ellie Landon-Cross_. The crush of his teenage years ever since he had first stumbled across her path in Hagrid's pumpkin patch after a visit to the half-giant. She had been with her friends, but Adam's eyes had only been on her. She looked like an angel to him.

Of course, with absolutely _zero_ experience with the opposite sex in the romantic sense, Adam had seized up and fallen unusually silent in her presence – something that still seemed to happen even now – and left her with an impression of being another silly teenage boy. Not that he could have blamed her, he would admit that she usually made his mind go blank and _act_ like a silly teenage boy. He hadn't seen her since she had left Hogwarts though, and she looked as beautiful as the day she left.

"Adam? Do you know her?"

Drawn back from his trip down memory lane, he saw a puzzled look on Sirius's face. "Oh, erm, only a little. I met her a couple of times in Hogwarts."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, noting the changes in Adam's behaviour the moment the young woman had stepped into the room. "I smell a _crush-_"

"Dad!" Adam hissed, "Shut up!"

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this..."

Lissa rolled her eyes at her boys, turning back to look at the young Healer watching the two bickering men with a confused look on her face. _Poor dear, well I imagine she'll grow used to scenes like this if she starts seeing my boy_. Lissa too had recognised the woman when she entered the room, not because of prior meetings with her, but because of descriptions she had been given. Too embarrassed to write to his father about his feelings and lack of dating prowess, Adam had taken to writing privately to his mother about his crush on this older woman – albeit only by one year – and Lissa had read one too many times how _beautiful_ she was.

She _was_ quite beautiful.

"Are you the Healer for Cara?"

Ellie dragged her eyes back to the only other conscious woman in the room and nodded her head. "Healer Harris was unfortunately called away to assist a particularly difficult case, but I assure you that you are in good hands."

Lissa nodded, moving to grab Sirius by his sleeve, "In which case, we shall leave Cara in your capable hands. We have our own work to do, so we'll be seeing you. Come along now Sirius."

"But Lissa love-"

"_Now_ Sirius."

"Yes dear."

The couple left the room, and a slight awkward silence descended on the occupants of the hospital room. After a few more moments, Ellie proceeded to the end of Cara's bed and picked up and flipped open the file which magically updated on the patient's condition. Pushing aside his nerves for concern for his 'sister', and seeing as Teddy was too busy watching her face for any sign of her awakening, Adam walked up to Ellie's side and looked over her shoulder at the chart. It was covered in symbols and lines and charts, and made him more confused than ever. "So, erm, how is she?"

Ellie jumped slightly, too focused on the file in her hands to have noticed Adam's approach. She blinked up at him, momentarily lost in his dark eyes, before remembering he had asked her a question. "Er, she looks good, nothing bad. She's not in a coma, just a deep sleep."

"Good, good..." Adam said, falling silent again. His mind was completely blank again, and he was forcing himself not to blush.

Ellie flashed a smile at him, before asking the question she had been dying to since she saw him. "I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names, but do I know you?"

_That_ brought a flush on his face, as Adam looked down to his feet as he nodded. "Erm, you might have seen me around in Hogwarts m-maybe? I was beneath you though- I mean below you- in the year below you."

A memory was beginning to work its way into Ellie's head, as she seemed to recognise him from her school days. "Well, it's nice to see you again...?"

"Adam Black," Adam said, before nervously holding his hand out for her to shake and hoping it wasn't sweaty with his nerves.

Ellie shook his hand with a bigger smile on her face now that she had a name to go with the face, "Ellie Landon-Cross." Adam smiled slightly at her as he dropped his hand, watching as she placed the file back at the foot of Cara's bed, and left the room to attend to her other patients.

"Aww, look Lupin, my brother's in love."

"Shut up Cara-" Adam reflexively snapped back, before turning and seeing Cara awake in her bed, blue eyes sparkling with amusement at the previously stuttering Adam. Beside her, Teddy was looking just as amused as she was. Adam forgot the annoyance he would usually have been feeling, in the joy he felt for his sister finally waking up. "Cara! You're awake!"

"Yeah, and you would have noticed sooner if you weren't ogling that young Healer of mine," Cara said with a smirk planted firmly on her face.

He rolled his eyes at her, before moving to drop a kiss on her forehead. "Well, since you're awake, I'll go spread the news and help in the search effort now."

Cara frowned in confusion, "Search effort?"

"Teddy'll explain, I'm going now, I feel the need for sweet revenge."

Cara watched, still confused as Adam left the room, a determined look on his face. She turned to look at Teddy, "What was that all about? What search?"

"I'll tell you later, it can wait," Teddy said, before stifling a big yawn, having stayed awake all night. Even though she was now awake, Cara was as pale as she was before, and winced ever now and from the pain still radiating from her shoulder at random periods.

Taking in the dark bags under his grey bloodshot eyes, and the five o'clock shadow covering his jaw, Cara could guess what he had been doing since she had arrived in the hospital. At least, she assumed she was in the hospital. Cara shuffled to the side of her bed, patting the free space beside her, "Come on Lupin, hop on, before those bags under your eyes drop to the floor." Teddy rolled his eyes at her, but slid into the bed beside Cara, slipping an arm behind her neck to act as her pillow as she turned on her right side to snuggle into him. Now with his arms around her, Cara was able to imagine the pain in her left shoulder slowly ebb away. After settling into a comfortable position, Cara decided to interrogate Teddy about this search that was going on, "So Lupin, tell me about this search."

"..."

"Lupin?"

Looking up, she saw Teddy had fallen asleep, arms still tightly wrapped around her, a relaxed look on his face again. Shaking her head at him, Cara reached up to brush his turquoise hair out of his way, before leaning up to place a soft kiss on his lips, and then resting her head on his shoulder again and falling back to sleep. Questions could wait until later.


End file.
